Tea or coffee?
by Fitzzzsimmons
Summary: A Fitzsimmons University AU. Jemma and Skye are in their second year of university when they encounter a curly haired introvert at a coffee shop. Shortly after the trio keep seeing each other round the campus, a friendship forms between the three, but as romantic feelings start to surface things get a little more complicated.
1. Day 1

I don't own any of these characters, blah blah blah...

I have no idea how often i'm going to be able to update this sorry. I hope you like this and please let me know if you want me to continue, thanks and enjoy.

Day 1

He sipped his tea hesitantly, not wanting to burn his tongue even more than he already had on his first drink. Usually he was good at gauging when his drinks were cool enough, but today he'd been distracted. It wasn't his fault that the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen had walked in. He'd gawked at her, not on purpose, but he'd just never seen someone who looked that amazing. So when he realised what he was doing, which just so happened to be the moment she'd noticed his lustful stare, he'd grabbed his drink and taken a big gulp. Anything to stop the moment being so awkward. Normally he was good at going unnoticed, but he'd put his foot in it today. And, of course when you drink a lot of scolding hot tea you then proceed to embarrass yourself as you deal with a very brunt mouth. For Fitz this meant squealing like a pig and spluttering… a lot. Followed shortly by flapping his tongue about to cool it off. To top it off the girl had still been watching. She had even let out a little laugh. She then did the worst possible thing in getting up and walking over to him and offered him some of her water.

'Here you go, have some water. That looked very unpleasant. You can keep the bottle actually, I'll go get a new one, you need this more than I do.' The American brunette said.

'Uhh… thank you…' Fitz mumbled, unsure of how to interact with such a beautiful woman.

'Well I'm meeting a friend soon so I'll leave you to your…' she peered down reading the title of his book '"The Grand Design"… cool. Seeya.' And she walked back to the booth she'd been sat at before. He wanted to clarify that this was his 2nd time reading the book, obviously he'd read it when it first came out and now he was doing it for his class, but she'd gone before he could speak. In hindsight it was probably a good thing; that most likely wasn't the way to impress a girl like that.

Alone again and sipping his tea, a much less enjoyable activity with a burnt tongue, he began to calm down from the ordeal. He relaxed and got back to reading the familiar book. Although it didn't really link to his degree his professor liked them to do a lot of wider reading. Setting monthly essays on books and articles which they would never come across on their course.

There was no way he was going to be as cocky as some of his peers who had also already read it. He was reading it to make sure he knew everything for definite, no way was he going into a test about a book he'd read five years ago without rereading it first. There was no shame in brushing up on it if it meant he got full marks. His peers might not see it the same way, but it was their grades that would suffer. Being that arrogant never helped anyone. Sure Fitz knew he was smart and he too could be cocky, but he was sure it wasn't to the same degree as the rest of them. He was smart because he put work into it, yes he had a natural flair for maths and physics, however he made sure he worked his butt off too. And that's how he got to the top. The others relied on their natural abilities and good memory too much and that was their mistake. For Fitz £9,000 was a huge amount of money to spend on his tuition each year and he be damned if he wasn't going to make the very most out of it all.

* * *

'The poor boy! He just made the strangest noise. I felt so bad for the guy; he went bright red and he didn't have any cold drink to cool his mouth so I had to help the guy out.' Skye rambled on, in a hushed voice. 'I think you'd like him, he's a nerd like you, he's reading some Hawking book and he seemed very socially awkward, your perfect match.' She joked.

'Come on, I'm way less awkward than I was a year ago, university has really helped bring out my confidence.' She told her friend.

'Well if this is you confident I'd hate to have seen you when you first arrived.' Skye let out a giggle. The two girls were catching up on their Christmas holidays. They had met at a New Year's party last year and the two had hit it off. That might partially have been due to the alcohol boosting Jemma's confidence, but mostly because Skye was just so easy-going. They had both woken up in her dorm and had nursed their hangovers together. Unsure of how they'd ended up in Jemma's room the girls tried to retrace their steps of the evening, each of them remembering slightly different things. The adventure had come up as a bust and half the night was still a mystery over a year later, but it had solidified their friendship.

'You know I think I've seen him around actually, he's always in the library, and pottering around the science labs. I don't think I've ever seen him with anyone though… kind of sad really. Although doesn't seem that bothered by it, maybe he likes his peace and quiet.' Jemma said, recognising the curly haired man across the room. A mischievous smile appeared on her friends face. 'No! I don't know what you're thinking, but whenever you get that look on your face it gets us in trouble. How many times do I have to tell you that I don't like getting in trouble, there are rules for a reason Skye.' Jemma spluttered, nervous at whatever plan Skye was conjuring up.

'What? No! I do not always get us in trouble' Skye said in mock denial 'like once has that happened….' Jemma stared her down 'Okay twice, or maybe a few times. But that's not the point, all I was thinking is that we should go talk to the guy, if nothing else I want to know why he's not wearing a jumper or coat or anything, it's January for goodness sake!' Skye exclaimed, getting more frustrated than she should about someone else's clothing choice.

'Skye leave him alone, he obviously gets nervous talking to people he doesn't know. Just from your recount of your encounter I can tell you that much. He probably likes to be alone so let him be.' And that was it. Skye let it go, understanding Jemma's point. The idea that some people liked to be alone was a weird one for her, but she could let it go ... for now.

The conversation drifted back to Christmas, laughing about the embarrassing dances Jemma's farther had done, lusting over the amazing meal that Trip's mother had prepared for Skye when she had visited her childhood best friend on Christmas as usual. Maybe Skye didn't have a family, but she had Trip and his mother and that meant truly amazing meals and awesome company, which was a close second according to Skye. Skye didn't like to dwell on her being an orphan, but Jemma knew it affected her a lot more than she let on. Sure Trip seemed great on the few occasions she'd met him when he'd come to England, but Jemma was sure Skye would take a family of her own over them any day. But that was a whole different topic, and today was meant to be about catching up and enjoying each other's company. So Jemma put that to the back of her mind and continued on with the light banter and sharing of anecdotes.

Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think :)


	2. Day 3

Hey so a few things to mention, firstly don't expect updates this often, I just had a lot of free time this weekend as I've not been well. Secondly this chapter goes into a bit more detail on University life etc. and I know a lot of you aren't form the UK and may not be familiar with how it works in the UK, I don't know how similar Uni is in the UK to the rest of the world. So if you are confused about any of the stuff I mention please let me know and I'll try clear things up. What I will say now is that I mention grade requirements, so I'll explain that briefly now. Basically in our last two years of school we study three subjects (usually 4 in the first year and then most drop one for the second year) and you get examined on them at the end each year, the first year is called AS level and the second year is called A2, together they're the A Levels. And when you apply to university they have the requirements for your subjects grades, they may be general like you need 3 A's or it could be subject specific. The grades range from E-A* and U being basically a fail. Sorry if that was all really obvious but I just wanted it to be clear for anyone unfamiliar with the system. That was a lot of detail for a really small (like tiny) bit of this chapter so sorry about that. Lastly I hope you enjoy this chapter, I'm not overly happy with it but it's needed to get on with the rest of the story and this is the best I could do. So thanks, and sorry this took so long, I'm amazed if you're still reading this to be honest...

And one final thing, to the guest who left a review about brain damage, I've taken on what you said an I'm considering it but it won't be until much later that I'd introduce that as I want to set everything up first, but thank you for the suggestion it's definitely something I had been thinking about and I'm glad that you think it's an interesting plot point too. But I've yet to decide if I think I'm capable of attempting something like that and quite how I'd fit it in if I choose to go down that route.

Day 3

There he was again, the curly haired boy from the coffee shop. His head in a book, sat in the armchair in the library. The armchair that just so happened to be her favourite spot, which was mildly irritating. But she was an adult and mature enough to find another chair. A chair that had a view of said armchair so that she could take it the moment he left. _It's a really comfy chair_ she reasoned with herself. Unfortunately he stayed put and she ended up sat in a hard wooden chair that had no lumber support or anything. She should ask the library to get some more ergonomic chairs, or get Skye to, the new librarian looked and acted like Roz from "Monsters Inc". Not someone Jemma wanted to interact with. So that was definitely a job for Skye, she wouldn't mind ... too much.

She had kept one eye on him for the entire two hours that she had free and he never once moved from her beloved seat. She really should have been spending more energy on reading her textbook, not that the assignment was difficult; she just needed to do some wider reading on protein biogenesis to get the extra marks.

As 3 o'clock grew nearer Jemma began to pack up her things, still eyeing the young man who had stolen her chair. Just as she stood up, he raised his head from his book and closed it. _You have got to be kidding me. He leaves now!_ Jemma thought to herself. As she walked round the long wooden table separating her from her beloved chair, she realised they were going to end up walking out the library together, which would lead to the age old issue of going through a door that was only wide enough for one. Would he hold back and let her through or would he barge through, knocking the books out of her hands, or would they do the awkward "no you go first" dance? It occurred to her that maybe Skye did have a point about her having some social issues; however this was born of past experiences and was perfectly rational she reasoned.

After composing herself from almost tripping up over a redhead and her chair, who had suddenly pulled out from the table, she left the table edge and headed for the door. The chair thief was just a few meters from the door that was going to cause all the problems. She was just starting to think about slowing down when she noticed he beaten her to it. They now had a good meter between them. Opening the door she walked through making sure to keep it open for the man. He quietly thanked her, with what sounded like a Scottish accent, as he passed her. He then skittered off towards the science block, which happened to be where Jemma was headed.

He reached the blocks door about five seconds before she did, he held it open with his hand and she responded with a 'Thank you' to which he replied with 'No problem'. He then took a right down the corridor, Jemma followed him, both seemingly headed to the same place. The next set of doors came and he held them for her, she thanked him again and he gave the same response. Another set of doors approached, now, Jemma realised she should probably say something other than thank you.

'Cheers.'

'You're welcome'

The next door, 'Merci.' Jemma instantly cringed.

'Err… de rien?'

Turning left and seeing the long corridor full of doors ahead, Jemma decided to speak up. 'This is getting ridiculous, why don't we just save the "thank you" for the last door we come across? Otherwise it's going to lose all meaning.'

'Okay.' _Really not much of a talker this one_. They continued on in an awkward silence until he reached his destination. 'Eh…this is me…'

'Well thank you very much. I'm Jemma Simmons by the way.' After such an awkward encounter, she felt it due they share names.

'You're most welcome. And I'm Fitz.'

'No first name?'

'Uhh, yeah I'm just not overly fond of it… It's Leo, well Leopold, but please don't ever call me that, I don't know what my parents were thinking.' He said quietly. At that moment a huge tanned man came walking through the corridor. Jemma had seen him at a few parties and new he was in his second year like herself, but had never spoken to him or leant his name.

'Hey Turbo, wow, talking to a lady? Well I'll leave you to it buddy.' He said with a smirk. Walking in with a mechanical engineering textbook.

'Sorry about him…' Leopold Fitz said turning red.

'That's ok.' She grinned. 'My best friend is far worse, it's like she can't stop herself from making poorly timed jokes.' Fitz gave a small understanding smile, although she was unsure how much he could actually relate. 'Well I need to get going.' She said looking at her watch. 'I'll see you around Fitz. Oh and you were sat in my chair in the library.' She said with a lopsided grin as she turned to continue on down the corridor to her lab. _A mechanical engineer_... she pondered, very pleased with herself for seemingly making him comfortable enough to actually stand and talk to her. Maybe he didn't enjoy his peace and quiet as much as she originally thought. Well she was going to find out, he was a mystery and obviously intelligent, she definitely wanted to know more.

* * *

Leaving her Computer Science lecture room Skye took out her phone to call Jemma. 'Hey, you ready to eat, I'm just heading home now.'

'Already cooking, it'll be ready to dish up when you get here, oh and you owe me five quid for this week's meals.'

'Damn, I was hoping you'd forget that. And, it's confusing enough using pounds, don't bring your British slang into the equation too.' Skye said light-heartedly as she continued to chat whilst walking back to her flat she shared with the Biochemist student. Jemma's parents kindly offered to pay for the two of them to share a flat together only a ten minute walk from the university. Jemma's parents had money, so it wasn't a big deal for them, but it was the only thing they paid for. Everything else came from loans and their jobs. That was the deal, they'd pay the rent and the two of them cover everything else, including bills. The idea was that Jemma's parents didn't want her spending more time working than studying to pay for her rent and such. In order to make sure she had enough time to study as much as they expected her to, they paid the rent. They wouldn't pay for anything else as they wanted her to learn to budget for herself, but the rent in itself was a great weight off their chests. Jemma had then invited Skye to live with her as the flat had two bedrooms. It was a huge deal for both of them as it meant they could have a nice sized flat with just the two of them, no noisy parties when they didn't want them, quiet time to study and a place to have crash mid-afternoon if they needed a nap. Although to be fair that was usually just Skye doing that, she had a habit of staying up late writing code and then needing a mid-afternoon nap. Jemma on the other hand was much more sensible with her routine. However, this was university, it was the only place you could get away with a crazy sleeping habit and she took pride in it.

Coming through the front door Skye saw Jemma opening up two beers for them each and setting them on the table. It was a good arrangement they had going, whoever got home first cooked dinner and then the other cleaned up. Jemma usually finished first which was best for everyone as she was the better cook; tonight however, it was just a simple spaghetti bolognaises. 'So how was your day?' Skye asked entering the cluttered kitchen. Jemma sure knew how to make a mess.

'Was really good actually, do you remember Curly Coffee Shop Boy?' Skye nodded, unsure where this was going. 'Well he stole my seat in the library so I was a little annoyed and I kinda watched him the whole time I was in there just to make sure I could get my chair if he left.'

'As you do.' Skye remarked.

'Yeah… well anyway, we ended up leaving at the same time, and we were both going over to the science block and you know the super long corridor that has loads of doors in it?'

'Nope.' Jemma always seemed to forget Skye never went into that building, despite her course having 'science' in the title. Jemma seemed to have forgotten about the food, something Skye never did, so she walked across to the counter and started dishing up.

'Well it's like a seven minute walk from end to end, that's partly because you have to keep stopping to open doors though. But we ended up going down there and I had to keep saying thank you every time he held the door open and he'd say no problem and it was getting rather ridiculous. So I said why don't we just wait 'till we part ways and then I'll thank you for all the doors together. So we do that and then I decide to introduce myself and he does too, his names Fitz by the w-'

'Fitz? What kind of a name is that?' Skye asked whilst putting the plates on the table.

'He goes by his last name, like if I went by Simmons, anyway that's not the point. The point is one of the guys from his class made a comment about him talking to me and I realised that he had seemed to enjoy our conversation. Which is making me think that maybe he's not such a recluse because he doesn't like people, I think it might be more that he's just intensely shy. So I have decided that I want to get to know this guy, he seems nice, he has to be smart if he's doing mechanical engineering here, that's got A*AA or something grade requirements. So yeah, I want to get to know him, he seems interesting.' Jemma went on as Skye sat down to eat.

'So, you think you were wrong when you said he likes his being alone? Are you, Jemma Simmons, admitting that you were wrong? Wow let me get my camera out, this is going in my scrapbook, oh and on twitter and fa-'

'Skye you're missing the point. Do you want to join me, this guy seems interesting?' Jemma asked as she sat down at the table.

'Yeah, just don't abandon me for some super genius ok?' Skye was only half joking.

'Come on Skye, I hope you know me better than that… Anyway maybe we can help him with his social skills.' Jemma said with a grin, there was something about this boy that just really excited her.

'Oh hon, no, Jemma, no no no no no, I don't think you should be helping anyone's social skills, I'm still not done with you, I can however, take on a second student.'

'Whatever, we need to make this natural though, otherwise we'll scare him off. So let's take it slow.'

'He's not a wild animal.' Skye laughed before eating a mouthful of spaghetti.

'You know what I mean.' Jemma kicked her leg a little in mock annoyance. 'If he's shy enough to have made it through a year and a bit of university with seemingly one friend in his class and no one else, well then we need to be gentle.' The two continued to chat about their respective days and classes long after the meal had been finished and cleaned up.

Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think :)


	3. Day 4

I'd just like to say that although I'm using a real university as the setting I've only actually been there twice and so I'm using creative licencing and redesigning it to make it fit the purposes of this story and it saves a lot of googling to see what all the rooms look like.

Day 4

Fitz was walking to the library for an evening of reading. Keeping his head down and quietly walking through the hordes of people. Crowds made him intensely uncomfortable and the quicker he got to the quiet of the library the better. The longer it was before he had to return to his busy house with eight other guys, all friends of Mack (or at least friends of friends), the better. He was grateful that Mack had offered him a room, it was one of the things he'd been dreading as his first year had started to come to a close, knowing he would be kicked out of halls of residence and expected to find a flat or house to share with other students for the rest of his time in university.

Thankfully Alphonso Mackenzie had come to his rescue. Mack was a friendly and straight up guy, the only person he bothered talking to in his class, the others were either too boisterous, rude, stupid (how some of the people had made it into his class he would never understand) or irritating. Mack was calm, intelligent enough and rarely got on his nerves, although they didn't really talk outside of the lecture hall or labs he considered him to be his only friend here. That fact might bother most people but to Fitz it was perfectly fine, he was here to learn not socialise. It wasn't like he was good at making friends anyway so what was the point in trying? His friendship with Mack had formed naturally and that was how he liked it. Deliberately going out in search of a friend was simply not in his programming. Sure it would be nice to have somebody to have an intellectual discussion with sometimes and maybe just telling someone about his day every once in a while (who wasn't his mother) would be nice, but he got by just fine. No distractions from his goal. No one to get in his way.

As he approached the library his pace quickened once more, his destination in site. 'Oi, Fitz!' So close. He contemplated ignoring the voice, but thought better of it and turned around to find Grant Ward, one of his roommates. _Great what does this oaf want?_ 'Hey, I was wondering if I could borrow your room tonight, you've got the best room, furthest away from everyone else. I've got a date tonight and last time everyone complained as they couldn't sleep, cos of the noise.' Grant nudged him playfully. 'So yeah, I figured if I used your room no one would complain as they won't hear anything.'

'You want to have sex in my room?' Fitz was horrified by the idea. 'What made you think I'd ever agree to that? It's disgusting!'

'Well you can change the sheets after.' Grant said obviously not seeing how perverse this was.

'No! You're not using my room so that you can have noisy sex and not have any noise complaints.'

'Right see, I asked out of courtesy, you don't really have a choice, you either give me your room or I take it.' Grant threatened.

'Fine... whatever… do I at least get your room?' Fitz asked suddenly very aware of how much bigger Grant was than him.

'What? No. My rooms twice the size of your's that wouldn't be a fair trade. No I'll pay you a nights rent and you can go find a cheap hotel or something. I want you out by 9:30, clean the room and if this arrangement goes well, then we can make it a regular thing.' Grant said with a smile, handing him a 20 pound note and walking away. 'Oh and leave it unlocked!' He turned around and shouted across the crowd of people. _Great, where am I going to find a hotel that does rooms for £20 a night?_

It was 5:30 now and it would take him an hour to get home, and another hour at least to tidy his room. Which meant if he studied for an hour, he could then eat, clean his room and get out before 9:30.

Once in the library he saw Jemma and her friend from the coffee shop. He ducked his head, not wanting to risk a conversation with them whilst he was in such a bad mood. He swiftly moved behind a bookshelf to avoid them. However he quickly noticed that the two's conversation was turning into a whispered argument. Curious, he crept forward between the rows of bookshelves to hear what they were talking about.

'You never go out anymore Jemma! I know after what happened last time you're hesitant, but that's not going to happen again, you've learnt to be more observant and I'm mean what's the likelihood of it happening twice?' The Burnette questioned.

'Someone drugged my drink Skye, that's not the sort of thing one gets over in a few months. If the bar tender hadn't noticed how I was acting after only having a Mimosa who knows what would have happened. Why are you being so insensitive?' Jemma replied getting visibly upset. The situation was becoming clearer to Fitz, who was now was feeling rather guilty for listening in. He started browsing through the books to at least appear innocent.

'I'm not trying to be insensitive, I just think it's time for you to get back out there. Otherwise, you're going to spend your entire life being scared to go out and have a drink. You're 19 Jemma, you can't let this put you off, just don't let strangers near your drink. I go out all the time and nothing has ever happened to me!' Skye argued getting agitated.

'I'm not going and that's final, I'm not ready and so what if I don't go clubbing, not everyone goes clubbing, It's not like I don't still go to house parties. And I have work tonight anyway.'

'Yeah until ten, you could come out after. And those kinds of people, they end up single and alone. You want to find someone, you need to go clubbing, no one meets the love of their life at a bus stop anymore. Look, I'm doing this for you, but if you're going to continue to be so stubborn then fine, whatever I don't care.' Skye said walking out of the library.

'Skye! Come back h-' Jemma yelled before being silenced by the librarian, who Fitz strongly disliked, she was the real life Roz from "Monsters Inc". _Well that was dramatic…_ Fitz was about to turn around and get back to his studying, after all thanks to Grant his time was precious, but had a change of heart at the sight of a tear role down Jemma's cheek. With a sudden new found charisma he moved out from the safety of the shelves and shuffled up to the crying woman. She was now looking at the floor, trying to hide her tears from the other students in the library.

'Ummm, are you ok?' Fitz asked nervously, taking her by surprise. 'Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you.' Jemma looked dumbfound, evidently he was the last person she had expected to see attempting to comfort her.

'I'm fine.' she said wiping away her tears. 'I just got a little carried away, I'm sorry, please excuse me.' Before Fitz new it she was hurrying past him towards the door. _Well that went well, first time trying to comfort someone and they run from the room before you've got three sentences out_. Discouraged and in no hurry to attempt that again he headed over to the engineering section of the library.

* * *

Jemma Simmons stood behind the reception desk at the depressing hotel where she worked. Everything about the place was cheap and disgusting, from the reception desk to the curtains in the rooms. Jemma had however learnt a vital lesson about the world of work; don't accept a job just because your friend works there and it means that you won't have to bother with an interview. It was a mistake and now she was stuck, unsure how to leave without seeming incredibly ungrateful to her friend who'd got her the job.

She was in the middle of going about her admin duties when she heard the front door open. _Damn, couldn't have waited another ten minutes for me to be off the clock._ Hoping it was a polite customer, still in a bad mood after her argument with Skye, she lifted her head. It was Fitz. It was 9:50 and Leo Fitz was walking into the cheapest hotel in Southampton. A look of horror covered his face when he saw her, followed by a deep shade of red. Jemma tried to figure out why on earth he was here, what would cause a student to take a room at a hotel. 'Hi… may I ask why exactly you're here?' Jemma greeted him.

'I need a room.' He said plainly, hoping he wouldn't have to explain his situation. 'I hope, you're feeling better…' He ventured.

'I figured that bit Fitz. And honestly I'm fine.' She lied.

'Ummm well this is embarrassing.' He mumbled, fidgeting with his hands and looking at the floor. 'I don't have a room for tonight… my housemate... is... errr... borrowing it.'

'Why, what's wrong with his room?'

'Nothing, he just… he has… ugh… h-he's got company for the night and my room is the furthest away… a-and well he gets noise complaints… so…' He trailed off his ears getting redder with each word.

'That's awful, why would you let him do that?' Jemma asked before realising that perhaps this had been less of a question and more of an order.

'You haven't seen this guy he's big and scary and he didn't give me much choice… he gave me £20 though…' Fitz reasoned not realising how pathetic he sounded until he'd finished.

'That's awful, and you're going to be out by over a tenner! Not fair at all.' Jemma felt a wave of sympathy for the poor Scott stood across the desk. 'You know I have an idea that'll save you renting a room in this house of crap…'

I hope you enjoyed, please let me know what you think :)


	4. Day 5

Hi sorry its been a little while, I've finally got round to actually writing out a written plan for this instead of having lots of different ideas running around in my head, so I actually know exactly where I'm going to take this. Due to this and working out how many chapters i want (its quite a bit more than I originality thought) so I've decided not to include Fitz's Hypoxia in this as it would have just made this too long, If more than the one guest who asked me about it are still interested by the time I've finished this i might consider doing a sequel or something for that, i don't know, that's a way off. So yeah i just wanted to apologies to the guest who asked me about it, I'd love to do it but it would just make the story too crowded and I'd have to like double the length of the fic.

Day 5

Jemma opened her bedroom door and was greeted with the unfamiliar sight of the futon opened up and Fitz sprawled across it. He lay on his chest, one arm haphazardly draped over the cushion, the other hanging off the futon. Half his face was squished against the mattress and his forehead was covered in unkempt curls. The blanket was intertwined between his legs, just a corner covering the base of his back. This left Jemma with a view of his bare back, despite it being January he had evidently overheated and thrown it next to his jeans. Unsure what to do about the half-naked man in her lounge, she crept past and entered the kitchen area to make herself some tea.

As the kettle boiled Jemma thought about how bizarre the situation was; a man she barely knew was lying asleep in her living room because his flatmate had bullied him into giving up his room so that he could have loud sex in it. Looking back, inviting him over was probably one of the stupidest things she could have done, for all she knew he could have been a very dangerous man. Looking at him you wouldn't think he could hurt a fly, but she knew that you couldn't judge a book by its cover. Despite all this, she trusted him, her gut told her he was a good person and for once she hadn't followed her brain.

She took out two mugs and placed them on the counter, assuming he would want tea or coffee when he woke. Jemma stirred her tea as she watched him sleep, trying to decide whether to try to wake him up as it had gone 8:30 or let him sleep and just get ready. Having realised that her showering would probably be noisy enough to wake him up anyway, she drank her tea at the table and decided that she'd get ready in the bathroom and then hope that he was awake by the time she was done.

She wrote him a note and headed to the shower. It was only after she had the shampoo in her hair that she realised she was going to have to go out in her towel, having forgotten to bring fresh clothes with her. _Great…_

* * *

Fitz slowly opened his eyes, struggling to grow accustomed to the amount of light in the unfamiliar room. Remembering the events of the night before, he stood up and ran his hand through his hair, assessing his surroundings. Someone was in the shower, presumably Jemma as she had said Skye was most likely not going to be coming home till the late morning and his watch read 8:49am. He looked at the two bedroom doors, they were both closed, so either Jemma had closed Skye's door this morning or she had in fact snuck in late in the night and gone to bed. Either was possible, he was a heavy sleeper and most likely wouldn't have noticed Skye coming in.

On the coffee table, between the futon and the TV, a note had been placed. Fitz picked it up and read it. "Good morning Fitz, I hope you slept ok. I wasn't sure if I should wake you or not so I let you be. But the kettles boiled and I left you a mug so help yourself, if you want breakfast there's cereal in the cupboard next to the oven. I won't be long getting ready, but if you need to rush off I won't be offended. Jemma." He was tempted just to get dressed and leg it out the door as fast as he could. The whole situation was overwhelming him. A part of him wanted nothing more than to spend the day in the garage and tinker with the car Mack was fixing up (Fitz could totally make some big improvements to the engine efficiency if only Mack would let him).

Instead he walked into the kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee and poured a bowl of Frosties, before sitting down at the table tucked up in the corner of the kitchen. Last night something magical had happened, he'd found to someone of equal intellect (maybe, just maybe greater). They'd talk until midnight about their respective courses, their interests and the latest scientific discoveries. They would have kept talking for hours if they hadn't both been so tired. He desperately wanted to continue their conversation on her research on stem cells and was eagerly awaiting her appearance so that they could continue their discussion.

He was packing up the futon when he heard the bathroom door open. It was now that he became aware that he was in just his boxers and bent over folding up the bed. Quickly standing up and turning around, he tried to stop the red flush that was creeping into his cheeks. Satisfied that he'd fought off the redness he looked up from the floor; in front of him stood a towel covered Jemma. Both of them in compromising attire, his initial excitement to talk science diminished and his anxiety overcame him. 'Morning…' Jemma smiled, going red herself. Fitz looked down again and nodded. _This is bad, this is very very bad_.

'Ummm, I'm just going to put on my shirt now…' He mumbled becoming more and more aware of his body. He'd always been embarrassed by his physical immaturity, he had the "body of a 12 year old" as Grant so kindly put it. 'I just get hot easily, used to the weather in Scotland and all...' He mumbled. He was bent over about to grab his shirt when Skye's door opened. She was the last person he wanted to see when in just his boxers. For the second time that morning he was greeting a woman with his arse. He shot round, forgetting to pick up his shirt and looked at her, his face red yet again. Dishevelled hair, makeup clear face, and midriff showing where her vest didn't quite meet her pyjama shorts, Fitz realised that he definitely had a crush, a big fat crush on the woman standing in front of him. _This is worse, this is so much worse than it was a minute ago_. His jaw slacked slightly before he swallowed and returned to getting his blue plaid shirt. He yanked it over his head and buttoned up the top two buttons, the only ones he ever bothered to undo.

'Wow, Jemma Simmons, look at you, seems like you managed to have a wild night anyway.' Skye crudely greeted them with a smile. Fitz gave a small shake of the head, unable to understand how exactly he had managed to get himself into this situation.

'I'm going to get dressed, but this really isn't what it looks like, Fitz can explain whilst I get ready.' Jemma countered as she walked across the room to get changed. 'I didn't expect you home, your night unsuccessful?' Jemma asked in her doorway.

'Quite the opposite, I just didn't feel like having a one-night stand, sometimes I do just want to get drunk and hang with some mates.' Skye said with a smile reaching for the kettle, showing little sign of a hangover. Jemma nodded, hiding a small scoff and closed her door to get changed. They seemed to have forgotten about their argument from the day before, Fitz noted. 'So, Fitz come on, put your pants on and tell me what happened with you two?' Fitz gave her a confused look as he looked down at his underwear. 'Trousers, I meant trousers, but nice underpants.' Skye said with a smirk as Fitz pulled on his a new pair of jeans from his overnight bag. _This is not happening._

* * *

The trio were gathered round the table eating lunch and chatting. The talk mostly came from Skye and Jemma as Fitz still looked rather uncomfortable, but he was certainly calmer than when Skye had found him in his boxers earlier. Half the time she couldn't understand what he was saying anyway, the Scottish accent was a little too thick for her American ears, she did however try to keep him engaged in their conversation. He picked up a bit when she told him about her course and the most recent program she'd written. The guy was funny too, which surprised her, once he got more confident he allowed more of his personality to spill out. As surprised and slightly worried as she had been when Jemma texted her after midnight saying that they had a guest, she was glad she had been given the opportunity to get to know the Scot. She could understand why Jemma was so fascinated with him, he was like her science soulmate.

It was gone 2:00pm when Fitz looked at his watch and said he needed to leave, Jemma was visibly disappointed as they had just starter babbling science nonsense again. Skye insisted that they exchanged numbers; taking his phone and adding both their numbers before sending them each a text. The contact list was rather empty, just his Mum, Mack, a list of numbers which she assumed were the room numbers of his flatmates, and his boss. Judging by the anxious look on his face this was a sensitive subject, so she swallowed the joke already formulating on her tongue.

'I hope we see you soon Fitz, maybe next time you can even grace us with wearing clothes.' Skye laughed as she hugged the suddenly ridged boy.

'Leave him alone Skye.' Jemma playfully swatted her. 'But it was great getting to know you, maybe you can come by the lab at some point and I can show you more on my project.' Jemma's bright smile was contagious and Fitz momentarily relaxed. Jemma decided not to go in for a hug, presumably after having seen his reaction to Skye's attempt.

'Yeah, that would be good, I'd like that. Ummm… I best be gone, so... bye.' And with an awkward smile he turned around and quickly moved down the corridor.

'Fitz!' Jemma called out.

'Yeah, other direction.'

Thanks, I hope you enjoyed, I love getting feedback so please leave a review, thanks :)


	5. Day 9

Thanks for all the positive feedback, its really appreciated. I'm updating early for two reasons, one its half term so I've been able to get ahead and write the next few chapters and secondly after this weeks episode I thought we deserved something happy. I'm rather heartbroken after that episode, and worst of all no one actually did anything wrong so I have no character to be angry at. Anyway, if this chapter is able to cheer you up in anyway then I'm happy.

Day 9

Jemma was sat on her chair in the library, reading a biology magazine when she saw a figure standing in front of her. Looking over her magazine she saw Fitz, awkwardly hovering five feet in front of her, this was the third impromptu library hang out since Saturday. 'Hey, you can come up to me and say hi you know, you don't have to hover until I notice you every time.' She said with a smile.

'Oh, sorry, I just didn't want to interrupt your reading. How are you?'

'I'm ok, and it's just a magazine, you can interrupt, I mean if I were watching say... Doctor Who, then I think I'd hit you, but this is just an article.'

'I wouldn't dream of interrupting you during doctor who, what kind of monster would do that?'

'The Slitheen, they'd totally cut the power off too.' Fitz nodded in agreement as Jemma placed her magazine down, the article catching Fitz's eye.

'Ooh monkeys! What's it about?' Fitz asked eagerly. Chuckled softly at Fitz's excitement she told him about the article and the research going into the apparent correlation of howler monkeys loudness and their sperm count. 'Poor howler monkeys, the quiet guys have got all the good stuff, but the females aren't interested because they aren't making a loud enough racket. It's like a metaphor of life if you think about it. Did you know that there are 15 different types of howler monkey, my personal favourite is the Purus Red Howler, they're just such a bright reddish orange, it's great. I mean they're all quite similar, but if you know what you're looking for you can identify them, some it's basically where they live, they evolved ever so slightly differently, others it's more obvious, for example some have black fur.'

'Bit of a monkey nerd are we?' Jemma smiled, 'And no I didn't know any of that.'

'And you call yourself a biologist' Fitz smirked. Jemma poked her tongue out. 'You ever been to Monkey World? I always watched the program on it, Monkey Life, I was never able to go though. It being in Dorset and all, bit of a distance from Glasgow.'

'Yeah I went when I was about 7, I think, it was good. You know there's nothing stopping you going now, it's a lot closer from Southampton.'

'Moneys stopping me, I can't afford the journey or the admittance, I barely cover my costs as it is… but I guess one day I'll get there, although a lone man at that kind of place probably looks super suspicious.' He joked.

'How about we go together this summer, after exams, before everyone goes home?' Jemma suggested. It was awfully unlike her to make such distant plans, especially with someone she'd just met, but she couldn't help herself. 'I'll drive and then all you've got to do is save up a little bit to get the ticket, they can't be much more than a tenner.'

'That would be awesome.' Fitz beamed. 'What about you? Where, where did you always want to go but never have?' Fitz asked hesitantly.

'Umm, I'm not sure, I've got to be honest, I was rather spoilt as a child and there aren't many things I didn't get to do. I guess the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, just to see it, you know, it would be nice to just take it all in.' Jemma replied softly.

'Yeah that would be a cool place to go, I think just the size of it compared to what we have here would be rather over whelming. I'm afraid I'm not going to suggest we take a trip this summer to the Smithsonian.' He smirked.

'Really? Why ever not?' Jemma replied deadpan. The two of them giggled before being yelled at by the librarian for being too loud. 'Well we just became library rebels.' Jemma whispered with a smile.

'You're a bad influence on me Miss Simmons.' Fitz said with a disappointed stare.

'Oh shut up.' Jemma nudged him. 'I was the one happily reading my magazine, you started this.'

'Well... that is true… It's still your fault.'

'Why?'

'Because I said so.' Fitz said with a grin.

'Oh sure, yeah, no, that's not going to work on me. Do you realise we seem to be getting less and less work done each time this happens?'

'Yeah… We might want to work on that…Well budge up.' The brief look that flashed across his face told Jemma that he wasn't used to telling someone what to do. Jemma smiled, glad she gave him the confidence to be himself.

'Why?' Jemma asked as she moved into the corner of the chair. Her question was answered when Fitz squished in next to her, and grabbed the magazine off her. He picked a page and used it to argue all the ways in which physics was superior to biology.

'You see, all biology can be explained by chemistry and all of chemistry can be explained by physics. Therefore, why waste your time on such a tiny insignificant part of science when there's all of physics.'

'That's rubbish, what about doctors and pharmacists, and then if you say that they're important which I'm going to assume you're intelligent enough to know, then you must realise that all the other jobs are there to support them, without the research that they do you can't make the medicines or give the mechanical engineers, like you, the specs for say a prosthetic and then yo-'

'Ok, yeah, you have point there, but you can't say that biology is more interesting, physics covers literally everything. Yeah your biochem stuff is cool, your stem cell research is rather interesting, but come on the LHC! We can learn so much from that, new particles have been discovered, we're learning more about the origins of the unive-'

'Yes that is interesting, but who is it helping? We don't need to know that stuff, some people even think we shouldn't know so much, biochem however helps people. With my research I could actually save lives, I'm looking at ways to accelerate the multiplication of the stem cells meaning that we can grow new tissue faster. They're actually growing organs! Isn't that amazing, one day people won't need prosthetics, they'll be able to have a new limb grow, I mean they might need a prosthetic whilst its grown, the logistics need to be sorted out, but still, it's a possibility.'

'Just because something doesn't have an immediate influence on people doesn't mean it's not going to help them, what the LHC is discovering will further our understanding of physics; the new pieces will be added to the pre-existing pool of puzzle pieces and in the future someone will look at all the pieces and put them together. They could do amazing things, but without the pieces the LHC gathers they would never be able to figure it out. Physics is about the big picture. Looking back there are lots of discoveries that at the time seemed useless but then a new generation came along and used those small seemingly insignificant discoveries and made wonderful things.'

'You know for a mechanic you sure love the LHC.'

'I see what you're doing Jemma, you've admitted defeat and are trying to change the subject, but I'm going to answer your question anyway. If I were a particle physicist then, I wouldn't be able to build stuff, that's what I love, designing and building, I can still have a healthy interest in the rest of physics; maybe my course makes me specialise, but thanks to the internet and sneaking into other lectures I can still learn about the rest.'

'Good answer, and I'd just like to point out, I've never snuck into a lecture that wasn't for me. Therefore, you are in fact the bad influence. My parents would be so disappointed.' Jemma laughed. 'How'd you manage to sneak in any way, surely someone would notice?'

'Nope, I have the gift of invisibility, unless you're looking for me no one sees me. That or no one care enough to stop me. I dunno, I prefer the former.' He said with a sad smile.

Not sure how to respond to the idea that no one cared about him she decided to just continue on with the lighter topic of his supposed invisibility. 'You do manage to blend in and not draw attention to yourself, I'll give you that.' Jemma shuffled in the armchair, causing Fitz to make an odd squeal, once again getting a 'Sshhh!' from the librarian.

'Don't laugh at me, you pinched me somehow and it hurt.' Fitz pouted. 'And in regards to my disappearing, I've had years of practicing, I'm pretty sure I came out of the womb wearing the cloak of invisibility.'

'That would make delivery difficult…' Jemma mused. Fitz nudged her and gave her a "don't take what I say so seriously" look, to which she rolled her eyes. 'You need to get a better grip on when I'm being sarcastic. You know I think we might be a little big for sharing chairs.' Jemma said, struggling to get out of the armchair.

'Really? I thought it was fine.' Fitz said sprawling out, taking up as much room a possible, the second she wormed her way off of the chair.

'So he does know sarcasm?' Jemma teased, and laughed at the grumpy star he gave her. 'You really are just a grumpy Scot aren't you?'

'Way to stereotype.'

'Well don't be one then.' Jemma retorted.

'Ouch, I'd like to think I'm slight more three dimensional.'

'Are you two here to study or chat? Because this is not the place for the latter, I'm going to have to ask you to leave if you can't be quiet!' The librarian scolded. The two exchanged a guilty look and quickly hurried out, muttering apologies.

'Did we just get kicked out of the library?' Jemma asked unsure if she thought it was funny or horrific.

'Yeah, I think so; we really are library rebels, who'd have thought?'

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it :)


	6. Day 13

Hey, hope you're enjoying this so far, here's the next chapter. I'll be back to just posting at the weekends now, the extra chapter on Thursday was a one off.

Day 13

'No! Don't touch that!' Fitz yelled across the workshop as yet another of his peers played with his project.

'I was just looking mate, calm down, no need to get angry.' The bull headed ginger, whose name Fitz hadn't bothered to learn, moaned.

Everyone was now staring at him, waiting to see if he'd say anymore. Remembering his place he backed down and continued delving through the draw. 'Yeah well maybe next time look with your eyes and not your hands.' Fitz murmured under his breath. After having found the piece he was looking for, he went back to his bench and continued to work on his prototype. He was counting down the minutes until the allotted hour ended; most of them would leave for the evening and he would be left to work in peace.

'Hey Fitz!' _Skye?_ He heard over his shoulder. 'Whatcha working on?' He turned around to find both Skye and Jemma inches from his face. He took a step to the side to give himself a bit more space before turning to pick up his sketches. He handed them over to Skye and returned to his work. It only took Skye a minute to break the new found silence. 'I don't understand much of this, you're going to have to explain some of it.'

'Can you give me just one minute?' Fitz asked quietly, not wanting to draw more attention to himself than the two women's presents already had.

'Sure.' Jemma responded before being approached by the annoying ginger.

'What can I help you with ladies? I don't think you wanna be hanging out with this one, he doesn't talk much and when he does it's just to shout at you. He's a weirdo.' Even after years of bullying and teasing his words still hurt.

'Piss off, we're not here to talk to you.' Skye answered curtly. The guy scoffed and gave them the middle finger before walking back to his bench. Fitz was sure he would pay for that one later. As Fitz finished up and wiped his hands on his overalls he heard Skye squeal. 'What does this do?' She asked picking up his private project.

'That is nothing.' Fitz answered, jaw clenched, taking the device off of her. Upon seeing Skye's disappointment his temper mellowed. 'It's just a little thing I've been working on in my spare time, it's a pen. For my mum, she… umm… she's not, she… errr… she has Par-Parkinson's… so I wanted to make her an anti-tremor pen. But I've hit a bump.'

'Can't make it small enough?' Jemma ventured, holding out her hand to examine the oversized pen.

'Bingo, it's based on how chickens keep their heads still, despite moving their bodies, I'm sure you'll be glad to know that was my inspiration.'

'Points to biology.' Jemma smiled softly. 'I'm sorry about your mum… that must be difficult, I assume she's still in Glasgow?' Fitz nodded. Skye stroked his arm affectionately, evidently she'd remembered that hugs were not really his thing. 'So what are you working on for class?' Jemma asked, guessing correctly that he wanted to change the subject.

'It's a drone, or at least it would be if it worked, in theory it works, I just need to figure a few more things out, and try to get some better resources, which is hard. I might have bitten off more than I can chew, I don't know... If it fails I'll just do something with an engine, but I want to keep trying with this for a bit longer. The idea is that it's small and agile enough to get into most places but also quiet enough to go unnoticed. But then I also want it to be recording all this information at the same time. But I can't get it to be small enough whilst meeting my specification and the noise side isn't working because they won't give me the right materials. And there some other issues that i won't bore you with.'

'Why not make more? Have them each record different things?' Jemma ventured.

'That's… That could actually work…I mean I wouldn't be able to build more than one, but that could work. Thank you.' Fitz smiled, feeling a little less stressed.

'If you want some programs written for it I can be of service there, I'm bored out of my mind at the moment. I could write out the flight paths, you'd need to show me the controller so I can match it up, but the program itself would be fairly easy.' Skye offered.

'That would be awesome, and I'm thinking about having an app, so it can all be run off a tablet.' Fitz answered, talking with increased energy as he grew more comfortable. 'That way I can give it the directions whilst seeing all the data, and I'll have a live camera feed obviously. I'm thinking about having an automatic mode, so they could all just scan the room without any real direction.'

'Sounds good to me, just let me know when you're ready for a program and what exactly you want and I'll sort it all out, I can make the app for you too if you want?' Skye's enthusiasm almost made him forget this was the woman who had seen him in his boxers just over a week ago. He was certainly getting better at spending time with her, he was gaining confidence and his crush was slowly dwindling. Although he found her attractive he didn't think he felt any romantic feelings towards her. She was definitely never going to be more than a friend anyway, he knew she could do a lot better than him. It also helped that Jemma was always around when Skye was, she also took his breath away, but for very different reasons. Every day he grew more amazed by her and her knowledge. She was special, he knew that, she was the kind of person his mother had told him about.

"One day Leo, you'll meet someone who completes you; they might be a lover or they might be a friend, but you'll know it when you see them. That they are something you don't ever want to lose. So hold tight, and don't waste time because you never know how long you have with someone. And this person will be worth dropping everything for." And his response as a young boy had been, "Like Dad, was he your special person?" And his mother had given a sad smile and nodded. He didn't remember his father, not really, he remembered all the stories his mother had told him, but they weren't his actual memories. He didn't remember when his father grew ill, when his strength left him and when the cancer beat him. He was only three when it happened. Within two months of the diagnosis he was gone. He had a vague memory of the funeral; holding his mothers had as she wept. But that was all he had. He couldn't remember what his mother was like before the grief came over her heart. He couldn't remember when the joy in her smile was real.

He did remember that one conversation with his mother when he was six years old, but he had long since stopped believing. When he was in Primary 5 at eleven years old, the bullying really started. Before it was just slight name calling and shoving. They'd call him a freak when he took apart the clock and put it back together when he got bored, or when he'd start talking about how important bees are and why they shouldn't stamp on them. But at eleven years old it took a different turn, they'd physically beat him and he'd come home covered with bruises. He had hidden them from his mother as much as he could, not wanting to upset her. But, on occasion, he'd get a black eye have to tell her that he'd been hit by the tennis ball in PE.

The names they called him got worse as their vocabularies grew and as they got bigger the punches hurt more. And then there was puberty, all the other boy started to become men at 13, he however, was still small and childlike, yet another reason for their teasing. At 17 he finally grew, although he was still below average height and he still had a very young face. His shyness towards girls, meant that he was the only person in his secondary school to have reached sixth year without ever having a relationship. This lead to the rumour that he was gay, leading to more name calling and shaming. His experience with people up until university had been terrible, he had learnt how to get by without friends, his last real friend having been from when he was seven. He had long ago lost faith in the idea of friendship, let alone finding his other half.

But here he was, chatting with his two friends and telling them about his project. He found himself believing his mother's words once again, if anyone was his other half it was Jemma. In the short time he'd known her, he'd found himself believing it more and more. He finally felt accepted, and that, was something he'd never felt before.

Thanks for reading, I'd appreciate any feedback :)


	7. Day 18

Hey, here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it. There is kinda very slight spoilers for BBC Sherlock in here, like Ii don't actually mention anything just reference it. But I figure if you cared you'd probably have seen it as the episode I reference came out like 3 years ago. And you'll probably get a bit more out of the chapter if you've seen Sherlock but hopefully you'll still enjoy it without having seen it :)

Day 18

'I still cannot believe you've never seen it! Like what are you doing with your life?' Skye exclaimed, jumping about, excited to be able to share her favourite TV show with Fitz.

'Studying.' Fitz replied flatly.

'Well you need to get your head out of your books and Mack's cars and watch TV shows other than Doctor Who. Like it's got the same writer I don't understand how you haven't branched and watched it. There are literally nine episodes, that's it, it's not like I'm asking you to watch supernatural!' Skye rambled, unable to contain her disappointment in him as she put the DVD into the player.

'I've got to admit, I'd pegged you for more of a TV nerd than you are.' Jemma agreed as Skye jumped onto the end of the two seater futon that the three of them were now squished on.

'I've always been more of a film person, I can't cope with the constant cliff hangers all the time, plus it's not a weekly activity. TV shows consume too much time to watch more than a couple.' Fitz explained causing Skye to laugh. 'What?'

'Sorry, it's just the irony of the fact that Sherlock has been running since 2010 and we have nine episodes. And Jemma I think we should call it a night after season two.' Skye said already enjoying the fact that the huge cliff hanger would drive him nuts.

'Yeah, maybe we won't even bother with season three, I mean really there's no point in watching it.' Jemma snickered as the theme tune began to play on the title selection page.

'I feel like I'm missing a joke here, if you guys are going to be mean about it I'll just leave.' Fitz said leaning forward as if to stand up. Both girls immediately grabbed his arms to pull him back. 'Can we just start it now?' Fitz asked, picking up his beer from the coffee table. Skye nodded her head and pressed play and eagerly watched his face. Noticing this, Fitz took the remote from her hands and paused the TV. 'If you plan on staring at me the whole time this isn't going to happen.'

'But the best part is seeing you react to all the different bits, we know it well, we don't need to watch the screen.' Jemma chimed in stealing the remote and pressing play.

'Not ok. You guys are not allo-'

'Shhhh!' Both girls cut him off. Skye, confident that he was getting better at personal contact, positioned a cushion behind her, against the wooden arm of the futon and put her back to it laying her legs over Fitz. This way she could watch his reactions throughout the episode. Fitz turned his head to give her a look of mild annoyance, but she simply pushed his face back to face the TV.

They were ten minutes in when Jemma's phone went off, causing both Fitz and Skye to groan. Jemma paused it and apologised saying it was her dad and she had to take it. She mouthed "five minutes" as she went into her room and closed the door. 'That'll be his check up call. He's… ummm how do I put this nicely… he likes to know she's working hard. But in a slightly more extreme, I'll disown you if you don't get the best mark in everything, kind of way.' A look of horror covered Fitz's face, making him look about twelve. 'Ok, that was a slight exaggeration, I don't know what he'd do if she didn't do well, but it wouldn't be good. Luckily Jemma works hard, but I'm not sure if she would work as hard as she does if she wasn't so scared of her dad.'

'That sounds horrible…' Fitz murmured.

'Well he comes across as very nice, I think the only issue is his expectations for her, she's his only daughter and he wants the best for her, it comes from a place of love at least. But yeah it's not great for her, she puts a lot of pressure on herself as it is and then she has him to deal with as well. I think the real drama will be when she brings a boyfriend home to them, he'll most likely get ripped to shreds. But so far no one's been able to keep her interested, it's not like she doesn't have offers, they're all just… well… not academically compatible. That's why she likes you so much, you can keep up with her, which is a rare quality. She doesn't share her research with just anyone you know?' It was then that a small seed was planted in her brain; that they would make the perfect couple. He was cute, they got on amazingly and he was a genius too. The only reason he didn't have a crush on Jemma was because he'd already had a crush on Skye. Therefore, he was distracted from how gorgeous Jemma, and now they were friends so he just wasn't thinking about it. Jemma on the other hand was usually attracted to more typically manly men, but Fitz was a cutie and she had a feeling he'd age well. They were both too socially stupid to realise that they were perfect for each other, and even if Fitz was attracted to her he was never going to act on it, the boy was far too awkward for that. Therefore, Skye needed to lay some ground work, get them to start thinking about the other romantically. She wasn't going to force anything, just push them in the right direction and hope they got there themselves.

'What's that look for?' Fitz asked looking puzzled. If Jemma had been there she'd have straight away known she was planning something, but luckily it was Fitz who was still a long way off being able to read anything above the most basic of body language.

'Oh nothing, I just went off into my own little world.' He didn't look like he quite bought it, but he let it slide. 'So what about your dad? What's he like?' Skye asked, trying to go back to the conversation they'd been having.

'I don't really know, he died when I was 3. Cancer…' Fitz answered, his exact emotions unclear.

'Shit, sorry. Mine too if that helps, I'm an orphan, grew up in the American care system, which sucked.' Skye rambled apologetically.

'Sorry to hear that, and it's ok, I don't remember him. So it's not like I miss him personally, just would have been nice to have a dad around. Especially with everything with my mum's health in the last few years…' The light left Fitz's eyes, a pang of empathy washed over Skye and she enveloped him in a hug.

'I know you don't like hugs, but you are going to accept this one and you will find comfort in it.' Skye ordered, trying to cheer him up.

'It's more just I've never been comfortable enough around anyone to enjoy a hug, that and the lack of anyone other than my mum offering them to me.'

'Aww bless you. You really have got the tragic back story thing down, I thought my childhood sucked but I get the feeling you have the edge.' Skye rubbed his shoulder. 'Well we sure put a damper on the mood.'

'Jemma will be most confuse when she's done on the phone, she left us all smiles and now we're all depressed.' Fitz said with a small laugh, Skye was glad he too could see the irony of their fun evening going south in the brief few minutes that Jemma was gone from the room. At that moment Jemma's door opened, as she walked through the door she sighed loudly, visibly irritated after her phone call.

'Just for once it would be nice if he could just call for a catch up and not an hour by hour run down on my studies.' She huffed. 'Sorry, I didn't mean to bring the mood down.' The two of them let out a small laugh, leaving Jemma puzzled, but instead of questioning it she simply pressed play. As she sunk back into the futon she rested her head on Fitz's shoulder, he in turn dropped his head to hers. _Oh they definitely like each other, they're just too blind to realise it yet._ As the gears turned in Skye's head she all but forgot about the TV show playing in front of her; instead of watching Fitz's reactions to the episodes, she was watching his interactions with her best friend, growing more and more certain of her conclusion.

Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think :)


	8. Day 21

Hello, this one gets rather emotional so I hope I've one it justice and you enjoy it. Thanks for all the positive feedback, it's really encouraging :)

Day 21

The coffee shop was unusually full for a Monday. Normally the bustling crowd and constant background noise would bother Fitz, but he was too captivated by Jemma. She was talking about her latest development in her stem cell research and how she thought she might have found a new type. She was yet to examine the subject enough to tell for sure, but once she had done she would be reporting it to her professor. Jemma was enthralled by the prospect and Fitz was equally excited for her. Skye on the other hand was sat next to Jemma with a deep look of concentration as she tried to keep up with all the terms. As far as Fitz could tell she seemed to be rather left behind. As much as Fitz wanted to discuss Jemma's work for the rest of the afternoon he realised it was best for poor Skye if they changed the topic.

'Talking of healing, when the hell are you guys going to let me watch season three of Sherlock? This is just cruel!' Fitz segued, instantly getting Skye's attention.

'It's been three days! We waited two whole years. You don't understand the pain at all!' Skye exclaimed, waving her hands about and gesturing the numbers.

'Yeah so you know that it's not fun waiting, therefore, you should want to put me out of my misery as soon as possible.' Fitz argued.

'Oh quite the opposite, we want you to suffer like we did.' Jemma cut in. 'This is our reward for having waited so long, getting to watch others squirm whilst we know the real answer.'

'That is just sadistic, I never pegged you for that.' Fitz said with a mock frown. 'You are aware I have Wi-Fi at home and I'm very capable of watching it on my own.' Fitz countered smugly, taking a sip of his tea.

'Yes but you haven't done so already and you won't in the future because you know how betrayed and mad we'll get. And, quite rightly might I add, you're scared to see what happens when you piss us off. Skye will rip you to pieces if you watch it behind our backs.' Jemma argued.

'Please guys!' Fitz whined. 'Please let me watch it, you aren't seriously going to make me wait two years are you?'

'Hmm… I don't know, when the time is right we'll know.' Jemma answered, warming her hands with her mug.

'The stars are not in position for this tribute.' Skye said in a slow deep voice, waving her hand about.

'Like she says. Stars. Can't do it. Not today.' Jemma answered in a deep voice also. Skye shock her head, to add to the re-enactment.

'Really? "The Road to El Dorado"? That's your go to movie quote?'

'Look, if you don't understand the cinematic genius that is "The Road to El Dorado" then I don't think we can be friends.' Skye said getting up and leaving the table for effect. Instead of sitting back down she decided now was a good time to excuse herself to go to the bathroom.

'You realise you're Altvio, right?' Jemma said once Skye had gone through the door to the bathroom. 'The horse.' Jemma explained, after seeing Fitz's face scrunch up in confusion.

'Great… I guess this is a film I'm going to have to re-watch to please you both?' Jemma nodded multiple times with wide eyes and a closed lip smile. Fitz sighed and moved his eyebrows up and down in defeat. 'Like it's a good film, but not one I'd quote or anything.'

'You're just not watching it right, you've got to really experience the film in all its glory.' Jemma said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

'So, you mean with a few beers in my system?'

'Not necessarily, but it helps.' Jemma replied cheerily, before picking up her mug to have a drink.

'I think I'm going to make a list of all the films that I want you to watch, it's not fair that this is a one-sided arrangement. What about "Gattaca", have you seen that?'

'Of course, it discusses important moral issues on the development of biology. And it's got Jude Law in it.' Jemma smiled, evidently lost in her imagination.

'All right, let's bring you back, he's not even that good looking…'

'Who's not?' Skye asked, re-joining the table, still wiping her wet hands on her skinny jeans.

'Jude Law.' Fitz answered.

'Ok, so he's aged a bit, I'll give you that, but him in "The Holiday"! Damn, that does things to me.' Skye answered almost in a whisper, she too getting caught up in her day dream. Fitz could feel the flush traveling up his face, the tips of his ears warming.

'Evidently I've started something here…' Fitz said to himself.

'What about in "The Talented Mr. Ripley"?' Jemma added, Skye let out a sigh of agreement as she closed her eyes.

'Ok this needs to stop, you're making me most uncomfortable.' Fitz pleaded.

'Aww bless your innocents Leopold Fitz.' Skye cooed.

'How many times do I have to ask you not to call me tha-' Fitz started before being interrupted my Mack running into the shop, slamming the door against a customer and running over to them as soon as he spotted them.

'Fitz, stop leaving your damn phone on silent! The hospital called, they couldn't get hold of you on your mobile so they called the landline. Your mums had a stroke.' Mack announced to the table, breathless from running.

Fitz felt the world stop. Everything was a blur, Jemma's cream jumper faded away into the red booth they were sat at. Skye's leather jacket and plaid shirt merged into one. The two off them slowly becoming just a black shape. Everything was muffled. He couldn't hear anything above sound of his racing heartbeat. None of it mattered. Everything felt like it was crumbling away, his grip on reality slipping. He was sure Mack was still talking to him, but he couldn't hear. Breathing was the only thing he could focus on and that was proving to be difficult enough. As if battling Parkinson's at the young age of 48 wasn't enough, now she'd had a stroke and he wasn't even in the same country. How could he have left her, what was he thinking going to a university so far away? What kind of a son did that make him? So many thoughts were whizzing around his head, but at the same time he was numb, his brain covered in fog.

* * *

'Fitz? Can you hear us?' Jemma asked, growing more and more concerned, his breath was haggard and he had gone a ghostly white. His eyes where glassed over and beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. In the few seconds since Mack had come rushing in Fitz seemed to have shut down completely.

Then, as quickly as he had frozen, he shot up, trembling, his teeth chattering. Before any of them could react he was out the door, doubled over and retching. Jemma was the firt out the door after him, the group discarding their unfinished drinks. 'Fitz? It's going to be ok, did you hear what Mack said, she's going to recover. Can you hear me Fitz?' Jemma reassured him. Fitz nodded slightly but Jemma was unsure how much he was taking in. He sank to the ground and brought his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around himself, rocking back and forth. Jemma wrapped an arm around him and rubbed his arm with her other hand as she dropped down next to him. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Skye run back into the shop, presumably to get him some water. Every inch of him was shaking and as he finally let the tears flow out he buried his head in his knees.

'I-I need to go home. I-I ne-need to be there for h-her. Money. Oh God, I can't afford this, I'll need to increase her hours of care, I can't do this. I'll need to drop out and stay with her. Oh God what if she'd died. People are staring, Jemma help me, people are staring?' Fitz cried breathlessly, speaking almost too fast to comprehend. 'I can't breathe, I can't, I-I can't breathe. Jemma help me. I can't do this.' As Fitz started to hyperventilate Jemma's first aid training kicked in. Skye came back with a bottle of water, ready to give it to him when he was ready. Fitz was still crying out for help and Mack was trying to keep the prying eyes of the other students away from him.

'Fitz, I need you do listen to me and do as I say, do you understand?' Jemma waited for a small nod of comprehension before continuing, trying not to break down herself at the heart-breaking sight before her. 'I need you to stand up ok? And then do some deep breathing, ok, it'll stop the hyperventilation.' Jemma said holding his hand and pulling him up gently, she led him over to the alley next to the shop for some privacy.

'I-I can't d-do it, I can't s-stop.' Fitz cried out, gasping for air.

'Yes you can, I know you can, ok? Do it with me, breath in, 1…2…3…4…5…6…7, out 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10…11…12, and again; in, 1…2…3…4…5…6…7, out 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10…11…12. See you can do it, keep going.' They kept breathing deeply together, for a few minutes before Fitz got his breathing under control. Skye and Mack joined them in the alley when she waved them over, signalling that the worst was over. Skye handed him the water, although his hands were still trembling he managed not to spill it. 'It's going to be ok.' Jemma soothed as she embraced him in a hug.

Skye rubbed his back gently whilst Mack tried to comfort him verbally. Skye leaned over to whisper in Jemma's ear, 'Could you call your parents, ask if they could lend him some money so that he can fly up there.' Jemma nodded, knowing her mum, she'd happily do it for free, they'd take pity on him and as for the money, well, they wouldn't even notice it. She stepped away from the group and took her mobile out. Her mum was quick to answer and Jemma quickly filled her in on the situation. Before she'd even asked about money, her mother said that she would transfer £1000 to Jemma's account that she was then to give to Fitz. The hard part now would be getting him to accept the money. But that they could deal with later, she could tell him it was a loan. A small lie to sort the situation out temporarily.

Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading, please let me know what you thought :)


	9. Day 22

Hi, hope you enjoy, a little development into the possibility of romance in this chapter, but it's a slow burn so don't expect it to happen quickly.

Day 22

Fitz was in autopilot, he couldn't deal with what was going on so he was just taking things one step at a time, this step was to get to the hospital from Glasgow airport. The taxi had taken him to the building and now he was running through the front doors to find the reception desk. 'Isobel Fitz, I'm looking for Isobel Fitz, I'm her son, she had a stroke. I need to see her. Now.' Fitz demanded. 'Please.' He added when he realised how appalled Jemma would be with his attitude. He still hadn't figured anything out yet, it was all too confusing, so he decided that was to blame for his rudeness. _Who has time for pleasantries when everything was so messy?_

'She's in 307.' The nurse answered with a tight smile.

'Thank you.' Fitz managed to say before running off to the lift. The lift, like his flight and taxi drive took forever. All he could do was focus on keeping his heart beat steady; everything else was too much to concentrate on. As the lift released him he ran down the corridor, being yelled at by different people, normally Fitz would apologise, but he couldn't find it in him to stop running, let alone apologise. As he saw the room on his right he slid to a halt. He ran one hand through his hair and the other down his chest to smooth his shirt. Taking a deep breath he walked in. 'Hi mum.'

She was asleep and the room was empty. He walked over to her bed and looked at the fragile sleeping woman lying in it. The tears started up again, thankfully this time no one was around. He sat down in the seat next to her bed and took her hand in his. Holding on to it like it was the only thing keeping him alive. 'I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner, I'm sorry I wasn't here for you.' He sobbed. And then, as if the dam had been taken away, he started to wail. He hadn't cried like this since he was a boy, but he couldn't stop the loud sobs and flood of tears that flowed. Before, at the coffee shop, he had been crying out of panic, but now he was crying out of grief. Everything was suddenly too much; the death of his father, leaving him alone to deal with this, the loss of his teens due to becoming her carer, and the anger he felt at himself in thinking it was ok to go to university at the opposite end of the UK. He was at his breaking point and he needed to let things out, this seemed like a healthy way, despite how pathetic he might look to any possible onlookers.

The limp hand he held tight in his stated to twitch. He drew in a haggard breath and opened his eyes to meet his mothers. 'I-I'm sorry mum. I'm so s-sorry.' He cried, bringing her hand up to his face, letting her wipe away his tears as he placed her hand on his cheek. 'I'm sorry I wasn't here.' He sniffed.

What came out of her sounded more like pained baby babble than an English sentence. But he knew exactly what she'd said. 'Don't be silly Leo, you were exactly where you were supposed to be.' It was what she always told him when he apologised for being elsewhere when she needed him.

He shook his head as he let out another loud sob. 'No, I should have been with you, that's where I'm supposed to be.' She stroked away more tears from his face and he did the same for her. He brought her hand down to meet his lips and kissed it. He wanted nothing more than to be enveloped in an embrace, like when he was a small child and he had had a nightmare, but he knew her hand was all he could get for now.

'My job is to care for you not the other way around.' She said slowly, but still, to anyone, but Fitz and possibly a speech and language therapist, it would have sounded like nothing more than a painful gurgle.

'Shhhh, you're hurting yourself.' Fitz kissed her hand again, and then brought it down to his lap and held it tight.

Isobel Fitz shock her head, as stubborn as her son. 'Tell me about school, how's it going?' Her voice was barely above a whisper, making it even harder for Fitz to decipher. Fitz smiled, for the first time thinking about university actually made him truly happy.

'Well I've made some more friends, Jemma and Skye. Skye's into computer science and Jemma's a biochemist; she's working on stem cells at the moment. She thinks she might even have found a new type which is really amazing. She's got so much potential it's crazy, like just think if that's what she's doing in her second year, what will she find during her doctorate and the rest of her career? It's going to be amazing. Also, she love's Doctor Who as much as we do. Her classic and new Who knowledge is on par with mine.' Fitz rambled on for a good hour about Jemma and Skye and his course before his mother gave in to the need for sleep.

* * *

Jemma and Skye were sat in the café, eating lunch. They hadn't seen Fitz since he left for the airport that morning and they were awaiting a text to confirm his arrival. His flight had been at 11:10am, the first flight he had been able to get at such short notice. They had persuaded him to stay at theirs overnight and had reminded him that getting the 8:55pm flight the previous day would have been pointless as visiting hours would be over. He was best to get a good night's sleep and leave in the morning. Although he had been hesitant to do so, they had managed to get through to him.

He should have arrived around 12:40, and been at the hospital within the hour, just in time for the start of the visiting hours. It was now 2:05 and they hadn't heard from him. Jemma decided to give him a ring, after all he had most likely just forgotten to call. Taking out her phone she scrolled through her contacts until reaching Fitz and pressed the call button. His phone was out of service, great. Hoping that it was a sign that he was with his mother and the hospital just had poor reseption, Jemma left him a text asking him to let her know how he was.

An hour later Jemma received a call. Excusing herself from her lecture hall she answered.

'Hi, how is she?'

'I don't really know, she's asleep at the moment… the doctor gave me a rundown of everything, but I couldn't take it in. The gist of it is that although it wasn't a severe stroke it's complicated due to her Parkinson's. Something about the treatment being different, medication conflicting or something… I don't know, I can't process it. She seems ok though, not too confused, but her movements are worse than normal and she's struggling with communication. She's being fed through a tube too…' Fitz mumbled, with the background hospital noise too he was rather hard to hear.

'Well it could have been a lot worse so considering the potential outcomes it sounds like she was fairly lucky.' Jemma responded, deciding that Fitz needed her to be the calm and collected voice of reason at the moment.

'Nothing about this is lucky.' Fitz snapped.

Jemma paused, taken aback by his unexpected, but understandable outburst. 'I didn't mean it like that Fitz.' Jemma answered softly, regretting her choice of words.

'I know, I'm sorry, I'm just so angry and I have no one to yell at.' Fitz replied bitterly.

'You... you can yell at me if it will help?' Jemma offered.

'I couldn't do that, you haven't done anything.' He said softening.

'Well I'm here for whatever you need, as is Skye. She'd appreciate a call as well if you have time. How about you Skype us tonight, when you leave?' Jemma offered.

'Mmm… I don't know, I just want to sleep if I'm honest, I'm exhausted, I will give Skye a quick ring once we've finished though.' Fitz took a deep, but shaky breath. 'I don't want to go back to an empty house, I want to stay with mum.'

Jemma sighed, she felt awful for him, no one deserved this, least of all him. 'I don't think there's a way round that one I'm afraid. But if at any point you need to talk to either of us, just call, doesn't matter what time.'

'Thank you. You're not busy now are you?' Fitz asked with more concern than Jemma thought possible for someone in his position.

'Well I've got a lecture, but it's no big deal, really.'

'Shit, sorry, I didn't mean to ta-'

'I said it didn't matter, you're more important.' Jemma cut him off. It was then that Jemma realised just how much she cared for the Scot, they had known each other just a few weeks, but she already couldn't imagine her life without him.

'No I'm not, look you get back to your lecture and I'll give Skye a ring. I don't want you missing important stuff.'

'Fitz don't be ridiculous, I'd miss the whole year if it meant helping you.' There was silence on the end other end of the phone, neither of them sure what to do with the information. 'However, calling Skye is a good idea, she's been texting me all morning worrying about you.' Jemma powered through, suddenly needing to end the conversation. What did that even mean, she'd risk her degree to make him feel better? Jemma was not one to show her emotions. She wasn't exactly a closed off person, she just rarely got into the "deeper stuff" as Skye put it.

'Yeah, ok… I'll call her then… umm thanks, I'll talk to you tomorrow.' Fitz sounded as flustered as she felt.

'No problem, it was good to talk to you, bye.'

'Bye.' She hung up and sagged against the wall behind her, a whirlwind storming her mind. Maybe she would talk to Skye about it later. Or maybe Fitz would tell her on the phone; that would be good, she decided, as that way she could gauge his side of things. Although his mum would probably be the main focus of conversation so maybe he wouldn't bring it up.

Putting her phone away, Jemma decided to not tell Skye, at least for now, she needed to think things through. She had never had such a fast forming friendship before and it was all rather confusing.

Thanks for reading, please let me know what you thought of it :)


	10. Day 25

Hey, next chapters here, more from 'Shipper Skye' in this one, I hope you enjoy it :)

Day 25

Fitz sat down, sighing louder than he'd intended. The last few days had been a whirlwind, full of information regarding his mother's condition, her recovery plan and phone calls to sort out her care once he returned to Southampton. It had taken the best part of the last two days for his mother to convince him to go back. He had been fully prepared to drop everything for her. He'd even been looking for jobs in the paper at the hospital.

Forever thankful for the Scottish NHS covering far more than the rest of the UK, Fitz hadn't had to dip into their limited savings for extra care as much as he thought he might. His mother had been discharged that afternoon and he'd spent the last four hours getting her settled back into the bungalow and then cooking them both dinner. He had become a decent cook in his teens, having to take over the nightly duty as his mother's condition worsened. Now she was forced to have microwave meals every night, much to Fitz's frustration. Looking at the kitchen from the sofa he was sitting on, he knew he needed to clean up before going to sleep.

It was times like this that he felt like the worst son ever. The house was a mess where his mother couldn't tidy it and the cares only did the bare minimum, his mother's diet was as bad as some of his peers and to top it off she was continuing to deteriorate at an alarming rate. Soon he would need to find a home for her and that truly would drain the last of their savings. He knew in the morning he should start calling up homes and finding out exactly how it all worked. The guilt that he tried to bury when away from home all came flooding through. He wasn't sure how he was ever going to leave her now that he knew what state she really was in, he has known she was lying when she said she was fine, he just hadn't realised how much.

Looking around the room he made a mental list of all the things he needed to do over the coming week before he left. There was a pile of washed clothes in the corner by the bathroom that needed to be put away, maybe if he had time he'd even iron them. There was a pile of unwashed clothes and bed sheets on the armchair to his left that he'd wash, a lot of unopened mail that needed sorting through and just a general hoovering and dusting.

Finally he decided that he'd better clean the kitchen and load up the dishwasher before he sunk any deeper into the sofa that was as old as him. He mustered all his remaining strength and pulled himself up.

* * *

'Jemma, please? I won't drink, I won't leave you, I won't let any guy near you, the only time we will be apart is if we go to the loo, because I refuse to go into the cubical with you, or get separated on the dance floor, if you so desire to dance that is. Although that's kinda the point of going out, and you love dancing, but if you just want to sit at the side we can do that too. This is to ease you back into things.' Skye pleaded. Jemma wrapped her hand's round the front of her neck in frustration, although more at herself than Skye.

'Just one hour?' Jemma asked for the hundredth time. She was, for the first time in months, seriously considering going out with Skye. She had loved letting loose on a Friday night and clubbing with Skye, but she wasn't sure if it would ever be the same now. She had never been more terrified than that night. Her body stopped responding to her and her speech escaped her, not letting her form proper words. To any bystander she might have looked like someone who had simply had way too much to drink, her flailing limbs and slurred speech, not anything unusual to the clubbers around her. Thankfully the bar tender had been keeping tabs on who had drank how much, and realised that after one drink she couldn't possibly be that drunk. The rest of the night was a blur, but she knew she'd been one of the lucky ones, ending up perfectly safe in her bed, left only with a terrible hang over and a volatile stomach the morning after.

'Just one, single puny little hour.' Skye confirmed.

Jemma sighed and took a deep breath. She looked about her flat and knew she was just going to end up getting bored if she stayed. 'Okay.' Jemma admitted defeat, it was time she got back out there.

An hour later and they were at the club, Skye chatting up some guy on her right and Jemma sat on her left, twirling the straw around in her drink. Unable to hear what they were saying over the music, she had long since given up on joining in with the conversation. This was not quite how the evening was supposed to go, but at least it had been without incident. Taking in a deep breath she took out her phone, fed up with being ignored by Skye. _Sure the guys hot, but this is meant to be a girl's night out_. She opened up her conversation with Fitz she sent him a text.

JEMMA [9:53]: Hey, how's things going?

FITZ [9:56]: Hi, alright I guess… you?

JEMMA [9:57]: Skye dragged me out to a club and now she's ignoring me for some hot guy… so great -_- and I don't appreciate being lied to Fitz, how's it really going?

FITZ [9:57]: Ouch, that's not ok, just don't go next time, I don't see what you like about it.

FITZ [9:58]: And I guess things are not good, like mum's as good as can be expected, but the bungalows a mess, and I have so many things to sort out before I leave again and I'm just too exhausted for it all.

JEMMA [9:59]: It used to be fun, I've just got to get back into the swing of things I guess. You should come when you get back.

FITZ [9:59]: NO!

JEMMA [9:59]: And I wish I could help you, but I doubt helping you is a good enough reason to be excused from lectures. I really wish I knew what to do for you…

JEMMA [10:00] And fine (for now).

FITZ [10:00]: It's not your fault, nothing much anyone can do, you just have to get on with it. Just talking to you helps. And there's no 'for now' about it -_-

JEMMA [10:01]: Well I still wish I could do more. And we'll see, Skye can be very persuasive you know ;)

FITZ [10:01]: Nothing is ever going to make me go clubbing, I do not see the appeal to all the loud music and room jam packed full of strangers. I could manage a house party, but clubbing is a no go zone.

JEMMA [10:02]: Fiiinnnnee….

FITZ [10:02]: I'm kinda exhausted I'm afraid, it's been a long day. Do you mind if I call it a night?

JEMMA [10:03]: Of course, I'm sorry to keep you up.

FITZ [10:03]: That's ok, it was nice to chat. I've got a busy day tomorrow, the bungalow needs a major clean up, but if I have time I'll give you a call tomorrow. Good luck with the rest of your evening :)

JEMMA [10:04] Ok, I hope you get a good night's sleep, please try to have some down time too, don't stress too much, and thanks, I think I need it. Good night :)

FITZ [10:04]: Nighty night :)

* * *

Skye was engrossed in conversation with Eric, the blond was talking about his most recent attempt at programming an AI. 'It's still learning, but it's coming along better than my last couple of attempts. It can hold a basic conversation, so it's getting there. It's just very easy to accidently corrupt it all, ya know?'

'Yeah tell me about it, when I was at high school I went through about eight AI's before getting a very basic one running. I then went and broke the computer and couldn't recover it, which was super smooth…' Skye chuckled. 'And after that finals came and I just couldn't be bothered. I was making games and what not. And by what not I mean breaking into things I shouldn't have. Never did anything mind you, just snooped about.' Skye clarified, noting that Jemma was on her phone texting. _Damn this was supposed to be a girl's night out and here I am chatting with a class mate…_

'Of course, what computer scientist hasn't?' Eric replied with a smile.

'Yeah very true, well it's been great chatting with you Eric, but I was supposed to be spending the evening with Jemma here and I think I've somewhat abandoned her. Maybe we can continue this in class tomorrow?' Skye smiled, trying to make sure she seemed sincere, not wanting to offend him. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Jemma's phone had been put away and she was now staring into her piña colada.

'Sure, sorry to have disturbed your night out.' Eric gave her a quick smile before getting up and going.

'Sorry Jemma. That wasn't intentional, you know how I get when someone starts talking computers.' Skye apologised as she swivelled round on her stool.

'32 minutes, we have thirty-two minutes left what do you want to do with them?' Jemma responded, ignoring her apology, evidently she was mad, but was saving it for another time. Probably when they were in the middle of their next argument she'd bring it up just to have another thing to yell about. They didn't argue much, but when they did it could be fierce. They were like sisters, and that meant screaming at each other on occasion too.

'I really am sorry Jemma.'

'What happened to that guy you were dating?' Jemma asked, subtly changing subject.

'Oh that fizzled out. But that's just Eric, that wasn't me flirting. That was just computer talk.'

'Well just Eric is super cute and super interested in you.'

'What? Eric's just a friend. Would be like me and Fitz or something.' Skye shuddered to add effect. Perhaps that wasn't the most sensitive of choices, she knew Fitz had had a crush on her early on and was still attracted to her _. Well who wouldn't?_ Skye was well aware of her looks. Saying what she'd said kind of felt like belittling him in some way. Skye saw a flicker of something in Jemma's eye, her jaw tightened temporarily before she quickly relaxed and chuckled along to Skye's comparison. 'Talking of Fitz.' Skye said, dragging out the "z". 'What do you think of him?' Skye asked, trying to start up some girl talk. Already trying to figure out how exactly she was going to give them a push in the right direction.

'I'm not quite sure I understand your question Skye.'

'What do you think, like I can't peg him down? He's cute, but not my kind of cute, I think he's your kind of cute though. So?' Skye asked, trying to keep things natural.

Jemma flushed red, and momentarily looked very startled. 'Umm, well, I hadn't even thought about it, he's a friend. And he likes you anyway.' Jemma deflected. Skye was already prepared for this response and was ready to fire back.

'I think liked is the better word there and anyway, that's purely aesthetic appreciation. I'm asking you to look at the whole package. His brains, his personality and his cute lil smile that he reserves just for when you walk into the room.' Skye said slyly, taking a sip of her root beer. She took three nuts out of the bowl and started to play with them on the counter.

'What? He does no such thing! And I don't know, what's prompting this? Has he said something?'

'Yeah he does.' _How is this girl so blind?_ 'And nothing, I just think you guys would be cute, come one, tell me you haven't thought about it? Does he makes your lady parts tingle?' Skye said with a smirk.

'Skye!' Jemma said looking around to check no one was listening to their conversation. 'No he doesn't. Look I don't know what to tell you…'

'You are so your mother's daughter.' Skye laughed at Jemma's fluster. 'Just think it over Jemma, like fine, if you can't see it then whatever, but he's a sweet guy and he's a lil cutie. And the way he looks at you, well I've never seen anything like it. It's like you're his entire world. I just think neither of you have pieced it together yet. But hey maybe I'm wrong. However, from the way you look at him back, I'd say I'm right.' Skye said seriously.

'What if it mess's everything up though?'

'What if it doesn't?' Skye said before getting up and nodding her head to the dance floor. 'Now come dance will ya?'

Jemma shock her head. 'You go though, I'm alright here.' Skye had evidently given her a lot to think about. With a small smile Skye nodded in silent agreement to be back before Jemma's hour was up and walked off to the dance floor, ready to lose herself in the music.

Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think :)


	11. Day 32

A nice long one for you today, and a fair bit lighter hearted than it has been in the past few chapters. I've had a couple of comments about grammar and I'd just like to apologise as it's really not my strong point, but I am trying. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next chapter :) (Also realised that the formatting on this hasn't let me put in breaks where I wanted them so I've added in a line to split up the time/POV change and at some point I'll go back and do that for all the previous chapters, so sorry if that's been an area of confusion)

Day 32

Jemma was rushing around the flat, cleaning everything up for Fitz's arrival in her pyjamas. Although he'd arrived back from Scotland on Tuesday, he had been playing catch up with the week of work he'd missed and therefore hadn't wanted to meet up until Friday night. It had been nine days since she'd seen him face-to-face and she wanted everything to be perfect. Skye on the other hand was less concerned, lounging across the armchair reading a book in her onesie. After their conversation at the club Skye hadn't brought up the idea of her and Fitz again, but that hadn't stopped Jemma spending every spare moment pondering the idea. She was thoroughly confused about her feeling and she wasn't sure how much of the butterflies in her stomach were just due to the excitement to see her friend again and how much was because of the idea that Skye had put into her head.

'Really Jemma, I don't understand why you're making such a fuss, he's been her before; the first time he came it was a complete mess because you randomly decided to let a stranger into our home. Seriously like that could have gone so wrong, I know he doesn't look the type, but he could have been a serial killer. It's always the quiet ones you know.' Skye joked looking up from her book.

'I just want everything to go well, he's had a rough week and a half and I want to make this as enjoyable as possible.' Jemma tried to reason. They both knew she was just working off her nervous energy, but she hoped Skye wouldn't pry into the reasoning behind her nerves.

'Well all I'm saying is, he's here for a movie night and some beers. And, maybe I'll break out the Bacardi and Coke if we're feeling it. Actually make that a definite, I need to see that boy drunk.' Skye said with a big grin. 'And it'll help take his mind off everything.' Skye added, after seeing Jemma's scowl. 'Just sit down and watch some Jeremy Kyle or something. There was a hilarious episode on the other day, I recorded it for you.' Seeing Jemma's deadpan stare Skye changed her suggestion. 'Or you could watch a nice documentary? I don't understand you, Jeremy Kyle is hilarious, it's really a feel good comedy, fun for all the family.'

Ignoring Skye's continued ramble, about why Jeremy Kyle is an underrated national treasure and the British should embrace it like they do doctor who, Jemma sat down on their futon and put Animal Planet on. She proceeded to take out her phone she respond to some texts and then ask Fitz how long he would be. Her phone buzzed almost instantly and she opened the message.

FITZ [6:02]: I'm running a little early for once.

JEMMA [6:02]: How early? We're not doing anything you can come by earlier than half past.

FITZ [6:03]: I'm kinda sat outside your door… was going to wait till half past.

FITZ [6:03]: I didn't want to intrude…

Jemma sighed at his stupidity and instantly stood up to get the door, causing Fitz to fall back on and into their flat with a grunt. Skye having looked up when Jemma had stood up quickly caught up with the situation. 'Welcome.' She said standing up to greet his fallen figure at the door.

'You're an idiot, you know. Next time you're early you could just text and actually be a civilised person and oh I don't know, come in?' Jemma said with an affectionate smile, helping pull him up and close the door.

'Sorry…' Fitz said with a sheepish grin. 'Nice PJ's.' He smirked, he himself having declined the offer of wearing the onesie Skye had bought him. Noticing the TV and the squirrel monkey on it he quickly made himself at home by jumping over the back of the futon and turning the volume up as he snuggled in. 'Monkeys!'

'Told you to put Jeremy Kyle on, now we're never going to get to watch Star Wars.' Skye said in a mock "I told you so" voice.

'Yeah yeah yeah…'

'Beer and monkeys instead of beer and Star Wars?' Fitz pleaded, knowing full well that neither of them would object after the week he'd had. Jemma smiled in agreement, but mouthed "Bacardi" to Skye, knowing they'd need it with all the facts he was going to overload them with.

'Did you know squirrel monkeys have the largest brain to body mass of all the primates and are highly intelligent? Also, they spread urine on their hands and feet so that they can leave a scent trail as they move.' Fitz said as Skye shoved a beer bottle into his hands.

'Uh huh, cool… How long's this got?' Skye asked, sitting back down on the armchair. Jemma realised that this was most likely a calculated move, making sure she and Fitz ended up next to each other.

'Well the next few programs are all about monkeys so…'

Sighing Skye rolled her eyebrows and got up to pour herself a Bacardi and Coke. 'Want one?' Jemma nodded and Fitz raised his beer, showing her that he was good for the moment. Skye came back from the kitchen she handed Jemma her glass; Jemma gave it a sniff to smell how strong Skye had made it and pulled a face as she inhaled, what she suspected, was equal parts Bacardi to cola.

'You love monkeys too, you're just too proud.' Fitz said with a laugh, having seen them both share a look as they drank.

'Course we do.' Jemma said, ruffling his curls. His hair was softer than expected and left her more confused than before. _Damn Skye and her meddling._

* * *

'And that, 'Fitz concluded, 'is why a monkey would be the perfect lab assistant.' It was now almost midnight and the pack of beer had been emptied by Fitz as the girls had shared their 350ml bottle of Bacardi between the two of them. The three of them were now passing Fitz's flask of rum, Skye had made her way onto the floor and was now covered in blankets that Jemma had thought to get out of the cupboard, before they had all got too drunk. Fitz and Jemma where sat on the now pulled out futon, with their legs stretched out in front of them, sharing a blanket.

'You have a very good argument, Mr Fitz.' Jemma responded after giving his idea serious consideration.

'You' Skye pointed at them, 'should suggest it to your lecturers.' Skye added, sitting up straight with excitement.

'Yes! Most definitely. We should write an email.' Jemma said, trying to stand up off the futon without falling over.

'Maybe in the morning would be better Jems?' Fitz suggested, slightly less drunk than the other two. He leant over to pull her back down onto the futon and she ended up falling on top of him.

'Well this is rather interment…'Jemma mumbled as she pulled herself off of his chest. Fitz felt his heart beat quicken, but put it down to the alcohol, not their sudden intimacy. 'Skye?' Jemma whisper shouted at the clearly sleeping Skye. She was now lying between the armchair and pulled out futon. 'I think she's asleep…' Jemma murmured, now sat back against the back of the futon.

'I think you're right…' Fitz said as Jemma leant down to rest her head on his lap and curled up. His heartbeat sped up again, he only hoped she wouldn't notice. There was a lull in the conversation for a minute or two and Fitz just sipped at his flask. 'Jemma?'

'Yeah Fitz?'

'What am I going to do when…' He trailed off, unsure if he really wanted to ask the question.

'When what?' Jemma said dreamily.

'When my, my mum… when she goes…' Fitz could almost hear the cogs whirring away as Jemma tried to figure out what he meant.

'Oh…' Jemma said, realising what he meant. 'She might… she might get better…'

'It's Parkinson's.' Fitz slurred. 'You don't get better.' Fitz felt the pressure of Jemma's head leave his lap and turned his head to look at her, now sat back up and only a few inches from his face.

'I don't know.' Jemma grabbed his hand. He could smell the alcohol on her breath, he was sure is smelt almost as strong. 'But we're here for you every step of the way.' Jemma said, sounding almost sober. She whipped away his tears and gave him a hug. He froze for a second before wrapping his arms around her, letting himself fall apart. She murmured soothing words as she rubbed his back with one hand and stroked his hair with the other. For a few minutes they stayed like that, wrapped in each other's embrace before he finally pulled away.

'Who would be your perfect lab assistant?' Fitz asked as she whipped away his remaining tears.

'I don't know… that's a hard one. Let me think…' Jemma said, taking his flask as he offered it to her. Skye let out a loud snore, sending them both into a shushed fit of laughter. 'I'd have to say… Baymax. He would be good at analysing everything and if the lab got attacked, then he'd go all badass and save the lab and all my hard work.'

'Why's the lab being attacked? What top-secret work are you working on that's made it vulnerable to attack and who's attacking it?' Fitz asked, although it probably came out far less coherently that that, he realised.

'A ro-rogue Nazi group... because I've dis-discovered how to grow a whole new arm in twenty-four hours.' Jemma responded, evidently struggling with her words too.

'Wow, Nazi's, this is serious, do you think Baymax is strong enough to take them all on?'

'Well…'Jemma said, adding in more syllables than Fitz thought possible for a one syllabled word. 'Worst case scen-scenario, he fly's away with all my research to take it to safety.' Fitz nodded his head in agreement to her story, finding it believable.

'Syll-sylleb-syllable is a hard word to say, ya know.' Fitz said, mind quickly distracted.

'So's Dyslexia, hard to spell too, for all those dyslexics.'

'It's a metaphor for life. The world likes to highlight what you're bad at… or something…' Fitz muttered.

'You're a metaphor for life.' Jemma retorted. Fitz scrunched up his face, thoroughly offended by her insult.

'Well you're, you, you are a… simile for life.' He countered, smiling at his wit.

'What? You make no sense.'

'Well you make less sense.' Fitz stuck his tongue out, to add affect.

'Hmph.' Jemma turned around it mock anger and Fitz just proded her in the side above her hip, making her squirm and giggle. 'Shhhhhh! We'll wake Skye.' Jemma whispered, reminding Fitz of her existence.

'Oh yeah…' Fitz said before covering Jemma's mouth and proceeding to tickle her until she licked his hand. 'Eww, gross!'

'Well don't do that then.' Jemma pouted.

'I want popcorn. Can we make some?'

'What? No. It's noisy with all its popping and pining.'

'Popty ping.' Jemma looked at him as if he'd said gibberish. It then occurred to him that to her he had. 'Microwave, in Welsh.' He clarified. Her lips formed an "o" shape and she shrugged. She then slid down the back of the futon and snuggled under the thick blanket they were sharing.

'Are you going to take your top off again?' Jemma asked. Looking down at her own pyjamas and realising he was still in his shirt and jeans.

'I don't know…' Fitz said unsure if it was appropriate.

'You can if you'd be more comfortable. And, jeans are horrid to sleep in. So, I don't mind.' Fitz considered her words for a moment before climbing off and unbuttoning his shirt. He was aware of her eyes on him as he stripped down to his boxers, but quickly forgot all about it as he tripped over backwards whilst taking his jeans off. Opening his eyes he was that he was now looking at their kitchen ceiling. He could vaguely hear a grunt from Skye and Jemma's muffled giggle as he righted himself. He decided to use the opportunity to turned the light off at the switch on the wall that split the lounge and the kitchen before awkwardly shuffled back to the futon, trying not to trip in the dark. Dropping his jeans next to his shirt, he slid back under the blanket and faced Jemma. 'You're radiating heat… no wonder you got too hot last time.' Jemma murmured. She let out a yawn, which was shortly followed by a burb and a giggle from both of them. 'Good night Fitz.' Jemma said rolling over to face Skye's direction.

'Good night Jemma.'

I Hope you enjoyed, please let me know what you thought :)


	12. Day 33

Next chapter's here, thanks for your reviews, I love reading them, please continue to let me know what you think :)

Day 33

Light was starting to fill the living room from the window in the kitchen. The large archway into the kitchen allowed the lounge to be flooded with light, despite the lack of an actual window in the living room. Squinting Skye started to wake up. With a slight grunt she buried her head back into the pile of blankets that had become her bed for the night. She was almost drifting back off to sleep, enjoying her new found darkness when the throbbing pain hit. With a moan she slowly sat up, getting her bearings. The room felt like it was spinning, and she was pretty sure she was still slightly drunk, despite her evident hangover. Slowly she crept across the room, past the futon which Jemma and Fitz were sharing and into the kitchen. Practically hissing at the early morning light, she took out a glass from the cupboard in front of her and then filled it with water. After gulping down her glass, she refilled it and took it back into the lounge.

She slumped down into the armchair and put her glass on the coaster on top of the cupboard. Craning her neck up to see the time on the wall clock above, she groaned. It was 6:47, far too early for Skye on a Saturday morning. Picking her phone up off the floor to check for messages Skye noticed the clump on the futon that was Jemma and Fitz. With a smile she noted how completely entangled they were. Fitz was spooning Jemma, who had in turn wrapped her legs around his. Jemma held one of his arms up to her chest, snuggling it like a teddy. His hand was limply curled, so that the back of his fingers where against her cheek. Fitz's head was buried into the nook of her shoulder, and he was breathing deeply, as if his subconscious wanted to breathe her all in. With a fond smile, Skye was torn between thinking about how adorable they looked and thinking about how awkwardly hilarious they would be upon waking up, and realising they had spent the night cuddling. The fact that Fitz appeared to be in just his boxers would make the whole thing even more hilarious.

She decided to take a picture for a later use; perhaps for a photo montage at their wedding, she thought slyly. That would truly embarrass them, and the horrified look on Mrs Simmons face would make it even better. Although some might think it was a little early to be thinking about a wedding, Skye was lost in the dream, already planning out all the details that she'd have to sort out as head bridesmaid. Her fantasy was disrupted by the stirring form on the futon. It was impossible to tell who had originally caused the movement, but it looked like the two were now slowly waking up.

* * *

Jemma woke to the warm sensation of Fitz pressed against her back. The embrace was perhaps more comforting than it should have been, considering the platonic nature of their relationship, but she was enjoying it and she had no plans to open her eyes and give herself away any time soon. If the world thought she was asleep, then she couldn't be blamed for staying in his arms. She was vaguely aware of his hand against her face and she gently nuzzled into it, breathing him in. The movement caused him to tighten his embrace, pulling her back against him more. His hips pushing against her bum. It was then that Jemma's eyes shot open.

'Good morning.' Skye chirped from the armchair. Jemma simply nodded, not sure what to do about the fact that Fitz had a very noticeable erection and was pressing it up against her in his sleep. On one had she thought she should get up, but this would most likely wake him and embarrass him, or she could stay put and ignore it, but that way he could also wake up and realise that she hadn't moved that would be even weirder. Thankfully she didn't have time to choose as Skye's greeting had woken him from his slumber. The initial startle caused him to push against her more for a split second and then he recoiled in shock, evidently aware of what was happening.

'Oh my God.' He whispered in horror. He jumped out of the bed, grabbed his clothes from beside the futon and ran into the bathroom before Jemma had even turned around to look at him.

'What was that about?' Skye asked, before the gears turned in her head. 'Oh, oh God, no.'

'Fitz?' Jemma called out as she walked up to the bathroom. 'It's ok, Fitz. It's just biology…' Jemma was unsure how to help her friend out of this predicament, but desperately wanted to try.

'Please go away…' Fitz mumbled through the door. Jemma sighed before backing away from the door and nodding to Skye to go to the kitchen with her. Skye jumped out of the armchair, seemingly instantly regretting it as she struggled to stay on her feet afterwards and then walked across the room to the kitchen.

'Right so what actually happened there? Like did you feel it or what? How much damage control is needed here?' Skye whispered, whilst putting the kettle on. 'Tea or coffee?' She asked at a normal volume.

'Coffee.' Jemma replied, she considered asking Fitz if he wanted one, but decided against it. 'And umm, it's pretty bad.'

'That's why your eyes shot open right?'

Jemma nodded before revealing the details to Skye. 'So at first we're just snuggling and I was too tired to do anything about it so I just kinda stayed put, it was comfy and warm so why not? And, then he sort of brought his… ummm… pelvis up against my butt and that's when I opened my eyes, not sure what to do. And, then you spoke waking him up, and initially he kinda pulled me in more, for like a second and then he properly woke up and realised…'

'That he had morning wood and was pressing it up against your bum.' Skye finished. Jemma nodded slowly, pressing her lips together tightly. Her cheeks were burning red as she brought down two mugs for Skye to make the coffees in. 'So important questions, did you like it and how big was it, cause he small, you know, but that doesn't always mean it correlates?' Skye said with the same grin she had at the club when she had brought up Fitz.

'I'm not answering that, our friend is in the toilet, mortified right now. We are not going to make light of his embarrassment.' Jemma scolded. That was not to mean she hadn't answered the questions in her head, which was leading to a lot more confusion on the matter. Skye had really got into her head and made everything more complicated.

'Jemma, Jemma, Jemma. What do you think he is doing in our bathroom? Because he sure as hell isn't sat on the floor crying of embarrassment.' Skye said raising her eyebrow.

'What? No? He wouldn't… they go after you pee though right?'

'He's a nineteen year old virgin, of course he is.'

'How do you know he's a virgin?'

'Have you met the guy? There is no way he's ever had the confidence to do anything with anyone. This was probably the most sexual experience he's had with another person. Of course he's having a wank in our bathroom.' Skye said handing Jemma her coffee and sitting down at the table. She chose the chair facing the wall so that she could have her back to the window, protecting her still sensitive eyes.

'I-I don't think we should be talking about him like this. It doesn't seem right.'

'God Jemma, you are such a prude, how did you ever get past second base?' Skye laughed, suddenly aware that she had risen above a whisper and Fitz could possibly hear, seeing as the wall to her left was shared with the bathroom.

'Can we just not discuss these things, it's only just gone seven?' Jemma said, hiding her flush with her mug. Although she certainly wasn't a virgin anymore, her upbringing had made talking about such matters embarrassing and uncomfortable.

'You are so English.' Skye sighed fondly.

'Well obviously.'

'You know what I mean.' Skye said with a laugh as Fitz appeared in the archway, full dressed. Thanks to Skye, Jemma was now trying to figure out if he had been gone long enough to have changed and engaged in said activity. She decided the answer was probably no and didn't let herself dwell on the thought any longer.

'I'm going to go now.' He said and turned to leave.

Jemma shot up from the table and ran to stop him, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him in to face her. 'Fitz, you are more than welcome to stay. Nothing has to change because of this.' Jemma said quietly.

Fitz was still blushing and looked highly uncomfortable. 'I still think I should go…'

Jemma sighed, but understood his embarrassment. 'Ok, I'll text you later, and drink lots of water, to help with the hangover.' Jemma instructed as he walked to the door.

'Bye.' He said loud enough for Skye to hear as well.

'Bye.' Skye called out from the kitchen, stretching the word out.

'Seeya.' Jemma replied softly.

Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think :)


	13. Day 40

Okay, so I'm introducing a personal headcanon in this chapter that's going to be explored through the rest of the fic, so I hope it doesn't put you off. I won't say any more as I don't want to spoil anything, but if you don't like it I'm sorry. I also edited this slightly hungover so I apologise if my grammar and such is worse than normal. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

Day 40

Skye and Jemma's lounge was covered in books and papers. Jemma was curled up in the armchair, her head in her book, occasionally popping up to add to the conversation or read aloud a particularly interesting line in her textbook. Fitz was lying on the futon, propped up against the armrest with a cushion against his back. He was running some simulations on his laptop, the speed of which was causing him to curse more than either girl had ever been whiteness to before. Skye was lying on her front, covered by blankets, propped up on her forearms and typing away furiously on her laptop.

'Ugh!' Skye groaned as she pushed her laptop away from her, she crossed her arms on the floor in front of her and dropped her forehead onto them. 'They could at least try to make this interesting. Some of us have been doing this since we were ten!' Skye grumbled into the floor, frustrated at how basic her work was. She understood that some people had never done anything in the way of computer science before taking the course, but in her mind they shouldn't have been doing it for a degree. 'At least have like a separate degree, ya know, like one for the students like me, who know what we're doing, we just need a degree to learn the complex stuff and to get a job in the field. And, then one for the idiots who decided not to pick up a computer before they left home!'

'I think you're exaggerating a bit there Skye.' Fitz mumbled, lost in changing some variables on his simulation.

Skye exhaled noisily. 'Yeah, whatever…' She rolled over onto her back, letting her head drop against the floor with a thump. Jemma let out a little excited squeal and Skye let out a small chuckle. 'You're in your own little world over there, aren't you Jem?'

'I've never met anyone who enjoys studying as much as she does, it's quite remarkable. If she applied herself to a proper science, she could be extraordinary.' Fitz teased.

'Lucky for you she didn't hear that, I think you'd have gotten a beating for that.' Skye chortled.

'All I'm saying is that physics is better.' Fitz said closing his laptop.

'Yet you aren't studying it?' Jemma stepped in, apparently having been listening the whole time.

'Yes… well engineering is my calling, I need to make stuff, doesn't mean I don't follow the rest of physics in my spare time.'

'Like how biochem is my calling and I keep tabs on science as a whole in my spare time?' Jemma countered.

'Touché…' Fitz said under his breath.

'What was that? I couldn't hear you?' Jemma said innocently.

'Vodka!' Skye shot up, growing tired of their mock argument.

'What?' Fitz asked, thankful for Skye's interruption, following her movement to the kitchen.

'Don't you even.' Jemma said with a smile, shaking her head at Fitz. 'And Skye we don't need to start drinking, we need to study.'

'That's all you ever do, and I'm bored and there is no way that either of you needs to spend more time with your noses in books. Come on, let's have some shots.' Skye said excitedly, bringing the unopened bottle into the lounge with three shot glasses.

'This is a study session, not a party…' Fitz said distractedly, still engrosses in his work, and now searching through a ginormous textbook.

'Yeah well I'm bored and host, so I chose.' Skye muttered with finality.

'Co-host and shouldn't the guest chose?' Jemma added.

'Look, stop being so difficult and budge up.' Skye said, putting the glasses on the table and pushing Fitz's legs off the futon. Fitz grumbled before putting his laptop and book on the floor and brought his legs back up to cross them beneath him. Jemma slid off the armchair and sat on the floor with her back against it so that she was in reach of the coffee table.

'Right, see, much easier when we all agree.' Skye said with a grin as she poured out the shots. Her determination to get the two drinking may or may not have been because of their snuggling that it resulted in the last time. She then slid Jemma's drink down the glass coffee table and passed one to Fitz. The three picked up and down the first shot. 'Right, so drinking game? Any suggestions?'

'Ummm… No?' Fitz, looked to Jemma for help. She shrugged her shoulders and slid her glass back to Skye. 'I think you're asking the wrong people Skye…'

'Great… because I'm always just a player and a drunk player at that, so I can't actually remember any that I've played well enough to teach them…' Skye said disappointedly, pouring out the next round and sliding them across.

'Truth or dare?' Jemma said after drinking.

'Not exactly a drinking game… But sure why not, we can get to know each other better.' Skye said with a smile. 'So what, you drink after you've had a turn?'

'Sure?' Fitz looked puzzled as he looked into his empty shot glass. Skye nudged him and pointed to the pile of blankets on the floor in front of the kitchen where Skye had been before. He slid off the chair and leant forward to grab the blankets and passed them to Skye. Jemma looked at her expectantly causing Skye to chuck her a blanket and both snuggled into them. 'Honestly, it's not even cold.' Fitz scoffed.

'Whatever Scotland. Right, who's going first?' Skye looked to each of them. 'No? Ok fine, I'll go. Dare.' Skye said with a smile, not expecting them to think of anything good.

'Ummm, well… ummm…' Jemma mumbled. 'I'm no good at this…'

'You suggested it.' Fitz pointed out, pulling out his phone. 'I'll find a generator or something.' He spent a minute or so looking through his phone, whilst both girls had another shot. 'Draw a moustache on your face?'

'That's a bit rubbish, but sure why not?' Skye said. Jemma stood up and grabbed a pen from the desk tidy on top of the cupboard and handed it to Skye who happily drew a curling moustache above her top lip. She down her next shot and refilled her glass, ready for her next one. 'Right Jemma your turn next, should we just keep using the app, makes things easier, and the more we drink the harder it will get to think of questions.' The others nodded and Fitz looked down to his phone to read the next one out.

'Truth or dare?'

'Truth?' Jemma asked, not sure which was worse.

'Ever stolen anything?' Fitz read. 'Including things like research.'

'Nope.' Jemma answered popping the "p" and downing her shot.

'Right my turn… Dare I guess…'

'Read the first one, no cheating.' Skye said, peering over his shoulder.

'Remove ugh… remove three items of clothes...' Fitz said going a deep shade of red.

Skye let out a small laugh, Jemma and Fitz's relationship had been a bit more reserved since the morning they had woken up on the futon wrapped around each other. Jemma had been less affectionate and the two of them had met up less on their own, always trying to make sure she was there as well. As much as this put a halter on Skye's plan on getting them together she was pretty sure it meant that they were finding it awkward because they were confused about their feelings. Skye hoped that once they moved past this it would bring them closer. This dare was hopefully going to help increase their sexual tension in the best way possible. 'Come on then, off with it.' Skye encouraged, as Fitz sat next to her awkwardly. Despite the girls being wrapped in blankets, Fitz was only wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Meaning that once he removed his socks, either his top or jeans were coming off. Skye looked across to Jemma, who was blushing as furiously as Fitz, while she watched him decide what to remove. 'Just saying, we've both seen you just in your undies.' Skye added, making him flush even more.

'Uuuhhh…' Fitz said, as he took his socks off and dropped them to the floor. 'I guess… ummm.' He spluttered as he stood up and unzipped his jeans, quickly removing them and sitting back down. He reached out to grab one of Skye's blankets to cover himself up.

'Whoa, what do you think you're doing? That's cheating. No blankets for you Mr. "It's not even cold", nice Yoda underpants by the way' Skye said mischievously. Fitz sighed and grabbed the cushion from behind him to cover his boxers.

'Right Skye's turn again.' Fitz said taking his shot. 'Truth or dare?'

'Dare, they're way more fun.'

'Okay… do squats for the next two rounds.' Fitz said with a vengeful smile.

Regretting her earlier statement she pursed her lips together into a tight smile aimed at fitz. 'Fine.' Skye said downing her glass and standing up to do a squat. 'Your turn Jem Jems.'

Jemma squinted at Skye, unsure about the new nickname, but turned to Fitz. 'Dare, I guess.'

'Make a cocktail with three different drinks and down it.' Fitz read to her.

'Do we even have three types of drink here?' Jemma asked Skye.

'Yeah… if you don't mind mixing beer, cider and vodka.' Skye chuckled thinking about how much quicker Jemma was going to get drunk if she mixed her drinks.

Jemma sighed and got up to go to the kitchen to make her cocktail. 'How big am I making this?' Jemma asked through the archway between the two rooms.

'Do a full glass, it'll be funnier for us. And, do it equal parts of all three.' Skye said sloppily.

'Just don't throw up…' Fitz added for extra measure obviously concerned about the size of their drinking glasses.

'Great…' Jemma said, looking resigned to her impending intoxication. Jemma poured in the beer and cider into the ginormous glass before returning to the coffee table to pour in the worrying amount of vodka. 'Bottoms up.' She said before drinking the whole drink with a grimace. Skye cheered as she finished, realising that she was already starting to feel rather fuzzy. 'I'm not having a shot as well, by the way.' Jemma said as she pulled a face in reaction to the strength of the drink she'd had. 'Your turn Fitz.'

'Ok, I'll do a truth.' He said and paused, waiting for the question to generate. 'Who'd you lose your… virginity to?' Fitz mumbled, going slightly red. 'Umm… I don't want to answer that…' Fitz said trailing off. If Skye hadn't already been certain of his lack of a sex life, now would have confirmed it.

'Alright, but triple shots for you.' Skye said, feeling bad about his embarrassment and wanting to brush over the awkwardness as quickly as possible. It was meant to be a fun night, not about getting people to admit things that made them uncomfortable. 'My turn. Truth please.' Skye said turning the focus to her, hoping it would ease her friend's embarrassment.

Fitz was still red from embarrassment and looked somewhat conflicted as he read from his phone. 'Do you or have you ever smoked?'

'We talking tobacco or pot? I tried cigarettes at like fifteen and didn't think much of it, never tried it since. I'll smoke pot occasionally at parties.' Skye answered, avoiding Jemma's disapproving glare. The "occasionally" was only there because she'd only do it if Jemma wasn't present, it just wasn't worth the lecture on why she shouldn't do drugs.

'Truth.' Jemma requested with a slight slur.

'Have you ever passed out because you drank too much?'

'Nope, I'm a good girl.' Jemma smiled before giving Skye a pointed look. Skye rolled her eyes, there were some things the two of them would always seem to disagree on and how to spend your time at a party was definitely one of them. The ironic thing was that tonight might be the night that she did pass out if she kept on with the shots after that monstrous cocktail.

'Your turn, no cheating Leopold.' Skye called out, pronouncing each syllable of his name separately.

'I'm right here Skye, no need to shout.' He said with equal volume, growing more at ease as the alcohol warmed his system. 'Okay… so… ugh… why do I keep getting the clothes related ones? Swap underwear with someone of the opposite sex…any takers?' he asked hesitantly.

'Don't look at me, I'm still doing squats.' Skye moaned, starting to slur ever so slightly.

'So that leaves me I suppose…' Jemma said slowly. 'Ummm how are we going about this?'

'And more importantly can I put my trousers back on because, ummm I don't think, umm knickers are umm… going to… hold me all in.' Fitz said going bright red again.

Skye let out a laugh before looking a Jemma. 'Nope.' Both girls said in chorus. 'You're smart you'll figure it out. Now go to the toilet and swap over.' Skye said, motioning them out of the room, still in her squat. 'But hurry my legs are burning.'

* * *

'So… how do we do this..?' Fitz said, nervous as he and Jemma stood in the bathroom together. He looked at her expectantly, wanting her to take over the situation and resolve it; he was already just in his boxers and t-shirt, he wasn't sure he was ready to swap in her knickers.

'Umm, right so if you take a towel off the rail there,' she pointed to the rail between the bath and the sink on his right. 'And then we can hold that up and swap over I guess.' Fitz nodded before taking a towel. 'Could you hold it up, whilst I take my jeans off?' Fitz nodded, adverting his eyes. He examined the bathroom, and found that the mat on which he stood was as good a place as any to focus. 'Right, so, if I take off my knickers and then pass them to you. I can then take the towel whilst you swap and then you take the towel again whilst I put on your pants.' Jemma sighed after getting out her plan.

Fitz nodded and held the towel for a moment more before he saw Jemma kick her plain white knickers to him across the tile floor and onto the mat. He passed her the towel and pulled off his boxers, he realised that any other nineteen year old guy in a bathroom with a half-naked girl, would probably be in there for sex, not to swap underwear. At the very least they would be aroused by the situation, but even this failed to make him interested in anything sexual in nature. _I really am truly broken…_ This wasn't the first time he had been in a potentially sexual situation and felt nothing, it was confusing to say the least. When he was younger he had thought maybe he was gay, like all his classmates believed, but he soon found that gender didn't have anything to do with it. He was just broken. The part of him that should want to jump her right now just didn't seem to exist. It was all made more confusing by the fact that he did most certainly want a relationship. He wanted someone to kiss and cuddle, just nothing much more than that. But who in their right mind went into a relationship where sex was off limits. What was the likelihood of finding someone who he was actually romantically compatible with and actually liked him enough to give him a chance, and then agreed to not having sex? Slim. Very very slim. The whole thing frustrated him more than he cared to admit, not that he dare tell anyone about how inherently broken he was. Sex was basic human nature, it was in human DNA to want to pass on your genes, and yet he seemed to be missing that basic instinct.

Before he allowed himself to dwell on his failings further, he slipped on her knickers. As he had feared they didn't really hold him in, he would have to cover himself up as he walked and sit with his legs crossed. He positioned himself so that as he stood he was all covered and then passed his boxers to her along the floor. Taking hold of the towel again he looked back down at the knickers. They had a small bow on the front and had a slight bit of lace along the end of the material. They were simple, but pretty. 'You ready Jem?' He asked before putting the towels back on the rail at the sight of her nod. Jemma was back in her jeans and had an awkward smile on her face.

'Well you've certainly never looked better.' Jemma smirked, trying to break the tension before going to open the door. She walked out, albeit slightly unstable, as if nothing out of the ordinary had taken place. With a deep breath Fitz followed her out, taking his hands down to cover his crotch and Jemma's underwear, he was more than ready for his next shot.

Thanks for reading, please let me know what you thought :)


	14. Day 53

Sorry for the delay, holiday's and all have taken up some time as well as revising for my up coming mocks (and spending a bit too much time reading star wars comics), which means I might not post next weekend either, depends how well I manage my time... Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

Day 53

The three of them were sat at a small round table in Ask Italian. Jemma was chattering on about the latest advancements in her project whilst Skye was trying to keep up with all that she said. Fitz was listening intently as she told them about bringing her findings to her professor earlier that morning. He was also, more specifically, watching Jemma's lips move, which had not gone unnoticed by Skye. She was in the middle of trying to explain exactly what the main difference between normal stem cells and what she'd found were to Skye, for what seemed like the millionth time, when the waitress came to take their order.

'Are you ready to order?' The blonde older woman asked.

'Yeah I think we are.' Skye answered for the group. 'I'll have the calzone con carne picante.' Skye said in an admirable Italian accent, or so she thought, causing both Jemma and Fitz to giggle. Skye rolled her eyes and took a sip of her Jack Daniel's. The waitress then turned to Jemma who ordered the rigatoni con zucchine e pesto and then to Fitz who ordered the prosciutto e bufala. Once the waitress left the group the conversation picked back up, although this time about Fitz's projects.

'I'm getting there slowly with the drones. I've decided that there should be eight of them, but I'll only be making the one which will just record dimensions and textures. This information would then feed back into the others to help build a better map of the room for navigation. I need to work out exactly how I'd have all the others working, I still need to draw up the designs in full with complete schematics and such. I was wondering if you'd be able to help me out with some ways of getting one of the other drones to smell? I'm not entirely sure how to go about that one…' Fitz trailed off, seemingly embarrassed to ask for help.

Jemma, on the other hand seemed thrilled to be brought into his project and beamed back at him. 'Of course, I'd love to.'

'So, umm what are you calling them?' Skye asked, feeling a little left out, as she often did when the conversation turned academic.

'I don't know yet… at the moment they're just 00 to 07.'

'Well that's rubbish, they need cute little names. Maybe that's something Jemma can help you with as well.'

'Yes of course, although I doubt his professor will be swayed much by names.' Skye rolled her eyes at Jemma's answer. Not everything was done for the grade, sometimes you just did it for fun, or at least Skye did. 'What about your other project? The one for your mum?' Jemma continued.

Fitz didn't look overly comfortable with the question; they both knew he wasn't happy discussing his mother's health at the moment, the only thing he'd told them was that she was alright for now. But, they both felt that it would be better if he opened up about it sooner rather than later. If this opened up a little room for a conversation where he could really talk about her, well then they would both be relieved. As much as he claimed he was ok, they both knew he was far from it. 'It's getting there I guess… I've made another prototype, which is smaller than the first, so that's progress. I've just been a little preoccupied, so I've not been able to spend as much time on it.'

'Well I'm sure that your mom will love it when it's ready.' Skye said, with what she hoped was an encouraging smile.

'Yeah…' Fitz murmured.

'How's your mum been doing lately? Still improving?' Jemma asked gently. Trying to get him to open up without pinning him down.

'S'ok I guess… the nurses say she's getting better, but she seems pretty similar every time I call her…' Fitz said gloomily, running a hand through his hair. 'I don't really want to get into it, I don't want to ruin the evening.' Realising that this was as much as they'd get out of him for now they steered the conversation back to safer waters.

Skye sat back as she watched her two friends bicker about some scientist and his most recently published papers on some area of chemistry. She was beyond the point of trying to keep up and instead was just enjoying watching the two of them finish each other's sentences and debate. They were constantly pushing the other further and expanding each other's points of view and although listening to them made Skye feel somewhat of a moron, she couldn't help but smile at how adorable they were.

Skye was still forming her plan as to how exactly she'd get them to realise how perfect they were for each other. It was a tricky business finding the line between gentle nudging and pushing. However, when Skye saw one of the other waitresses, an idea formed in her mind. 'She's pretty cute, wouldn't you say Fitz?' Skye interrupted, motioning to the attractive waitress. She had bright blonde hair and heavy makeup, a curvy build which her tight black dress clung to perfectly, her high cheekbones and full lips made her an obvious choice to test Fitz's type. She was the complete opposite to Jemma and although obviously attractive she was someone that could easily not be someone's type, leaving Fitz an easy escape and no one would think it unusual.

'Uhh… yeah, I guess…' Fitz answered blushing. 'Not really my type though…' He took the bait perfectly, it was as if Skye had scripted it out herself. With a smile she started phase two.

'So what is your type?' Skye was well aware that he found her physically attractive, but she was pretty sure she wasn't actually his "type" and that Jemma Simmons most definitely was.

Blushing and looking down at his hand Fitz mumbled fillers until he was ready to answer. The two girls looked at him expectantly. Skye gave a quick glance at Jemma noting that she looked slightly anxious, Jemma herself may not have even been aware of it on a conscious level, but Skye sure was. 'I guess like… it's more about the personality, like I'd need to find them attractive, but someone can get more attractive once you know them… but just kinda, like expressive eyes. Like you know I suck at reading people so that helps me a lot. And, I dunno, smaller than me is preferable, but I'm not exactly tall so…' he trailed off. Skye gave him a look to tell him to carry on and thankfully he did. 'Like I dunno, I prefer less makeup than she wears, like more of a natural look… But the most important thing would be smart enough to keep up with me... I guess. Like I want to always be learning more when I'm around them and be interested all the time. But also someone who is comfortable with silence, and just staying in sometimes. Someone who was too much of an extrovert just wouldn't work...' Fitz paused and tool a deep breath. 'Now it's your turn.' Fitz finished, red cheeked and looking down at his hands which fiddled with the edge of the tablecloth.

Whether he knew it or not he had described Jemma, sure he was pretty vague as descriptions go, but there was nothing in his description that contradicted her. 'Nah, I know mine and Jemma's type so cba.' Skye said quickly, knowing that Jemma's default type was not Fitz at all. More along the lines of dark, tall, muscular and symmetrical, but there was a reason they never lasted for more than a casual hook up or a date or two. But Fitz wouldn't know that so what was the point in damaging his self-esteem? They may be Jemma's go to physical type, but none of them were ever even considered for a long-term connection.

Fitz looked like he might argue back insisting that he wanted to know, but clearly decided against it and slumped back into his chair. Jemma had been oddly still during the whole exchange and Skye was unsure how to start phase three of her mini plan. Instead, she decided to take the conversation in a different direction, hopefully they'd reach phase three naturally during the conversation.

'So, you're the settle down kind of guy, not really into the dating scene?' Skye asked, making the direct comparison to Jemma's current stance on relationships.

'Umm I guess… not like I really have any takers to experiment either option with.' Skye felt a pang of guilt, she had forgotten about his lack of experience.

Trying to fix the corner she had talked them into Skye pushed forward with her plan. 'That, kind sir, is because you don't put yourself out there. If you dressed up, got rid of your cardigans and ties, and then went out to a club or just a party then you'd attract some attention. You're a cutie, some girl would snap you up real quick.' Skye rambled, trying to make him feel better. However, from the pained look on his face it appeared she'd struck another nerve.

'You need friends for that kind of stuff and until a few weeks ago all I had was Mack and his clubbing scene isn't really mine. Not that any club is my scene…' Fitz caught the confused look of Skye and Jemma's faces and realised he needed to expand. 'Mack's gay, he goes to gay night clubs.'

'Ohhh…' Both girls chorused in understanding.

'Yeah so I couldn't meet anyone with him even if I went, not that I ever would.'

'We'll get you there, wont we?' Skye said looking to Jemma.

'Yeah, although I'm still not in any rush to go back. But it is fun when you aren't worried about having your drink spiked.' She said with an awkward and self-deprecating smile.

'Well I have zero interest in clubs, too much noise and too many people and not enough space. It would just make me uncomfortable… and make me panic and…' Fitz trailed off, trying to get them to understand. Skye finally saw that it wasn't just him being antisocial, it was him not being able to cope with all the stimulants and people. Skye wasn't one for losing an argument but just this once she would back down.

'Alright no clubs, but the next party we go to you can be my plus one.' Jemma offered. Skye couldn't help but smile, this was better than she had imagined, Jemma had practically just asked him out.

'Umm yeah ok, I'd like that. But I don't really know how parties work so don't abandon me because I wouldn't know what to do.' Fitz flushed red yet again. Skye's heart was soaring, a whole night the two of them side by side at a party, drinking, it was perfect.

'I'd never do that, who do you think I am?' Jemma laughed off his absurd idea. Skye let slip another grin, her stupid clueless geniuses _(genii?)_ were well on their way to being stupid clueless geniuses together. Her mind was racing, for the first time having some faith in their ability to get their act together and sort themselves out. Maybe her precious science babies were growing up.

By the time their food arrived they had travelled back to talking science, arguing about astrophysics, and whether it was proper physics or not. According to Fitz it didn't count, and seeing as he quote 'is the physicist' he was obviously correct. According to Jemma who quote 'is the scientist' so she must be right, it was. Skye, however, really didn't care, so long as NASA kept an eye out for any pesky meteorites headed towards earth, she was just fine.

She did, however, care about the way their minds connected, predicting each other's counter arguments and ready with their own response before the other had even finished. To any onlookers it was probably a strange sight, watching the two of them, launching in and out of each other's sentences. They were almost squabbling like children, but the amount of jargon they were spouting let you know they were intellectuals, deep in debate. Skye sat back and watched them in wonder, hoping that one day, she'd find her Fitz to her Simmons.

I hope you enjoyed it, please let me know what you think, I love getting your feedback :)


	15. Day 67

Hey, so because i've not posted much recently i'll put another chapter up tomorrow so long as I don't forget. I was nervous about posting this chapter, I wasn't sure how it would be received but please bare with me. I hope you like it or at least understand why i've done it.

Day 67

'Right that's it for you Skye, no more drinks tonight.' Fitz chided. The pub was rather empty, they had stashed themselves in a small corner booth and the other 15 or so people in the pub were out of sight. Fitz himself had probably had too much to drink as well, but he could certainly hold his liquor better than Skye, despite her having more experience. He claimed it was his breading, being Scottish and all, in truth it was probably just that he was bigger than her. Not that he was going to admit that any time soon.

'Nooooo!' Skye whined, clinging to her bottle like her life depended on it as he tried to remove it. Neither of them had much coordination by this point and the struggle quickly ended with the bottle spilt all over the table. 'Now look what you did. Spilled my booze you stupid Scot!' Skye accused in a lighthearted tone.

'Woops…' Fitz said as he mopped up the liquid with some napkins. 'I'm sorry, but if I return you to Jemma like this, I'm going to get a bollocking.' Fitz slurred.

'Can't I crash at yours?' Skye pleaded.

Fitz considered this for a moment before getting up. 'Text her to let her know. Next rounds on me.' As much as he knew he was soon going to reach his limit and would not be able to remember everything in the morning if he kept going, he really wanted to just have a fun night out with Skye. He'd had some bad news about his mother earlier that day and he just wanted to forget it. Sometimes he wished they just wouldn't ring him up with every little detail of her decline. He wasn't sure what good it was telling him she had had a mild chocking incident. It wasn't like he could do anything other than call her up and check on her. And with everything else he had to worry about he thought that ignorance might just be the better option.

He came back a few minutes later with two ciders and two vodka shots, mixing his drinks gave him a better chance of forgetting. Skye grabbed her cider and took a long sip before a look of deep concentration took over her features. Fitz looked at her quizzically before picking up his shot, and downing it. He enjoyed the slight burn as it slid down his throat. 'If I ask a question, will you answer honestly? It's a personal question.' Skye said, suddenly seeming to sober up, looking deep into his eyes, reading his face.

'Ummm, I guess?' Fitz answered, completely unsure where this turn had come from.

'Do you have feelings for Jemma?' Skye said, flatly.

'Wha-?' Fitz spluttered, taking his time to really process the question.

'Do you have romantic feelings for Jemma?' Skye asked, breaking the question down further.

'I don't know… It's complicated…' Fitz murmured.

'Because if you do, I am totally your wingman.' Skye said with a bright smile. 'Wingwoman..?' She murmured quietly before regaining focus. 'I know it's difficult because you're friends, but it's new enough to not be that big of an issue. And I really think you could be amazing together.' Skye rambled on in a slur, evidently she'd been thinking about this for a while. 'You guys are so tight it's like you're physically linked. You know Jemma's barely even looked at another guy since meeting you? I really think it could work and I could be your bridesmaid and tell loads of embarrassing stories in my speech, and I could be like an aun-'

'Stop Skye, you're getting to fast.' Fitz interrupted, trying his best to string a sentence together. 'It's not just that, I don't know how I feel and it doesn't matter anyway.'

'Why not? Jemma is totally into you, she might not realise it, but she totally is.'

'No, that's not it. Not just that…' Fitz mumbled, looking down at his empty shot glass.

'Then what is it?' Skye asked, her tone softer than before.

'I-I-I don't work properly.' Fitz managed to get out, he didn't want to talk about his failings, but at the same time he wanted to get it off his chest, and Skye was a good person to do that with. The fact that neither of them were likely to remember the conversation in the morning fuelled his confidence to keep going. 'I'm broken.' He choked out, pushing down his anguish.

'What do you mean?' Skye asked reaching a hand forward to rest on his forearm that rested on the table.

'I'm broken.' He repeated. A tear broke free and he quickly wiped it away. 'The way people are supposed to feel like towards the people they're attracted to, well I don't.' Hi voice hitched on each word, breaking the more he fought with his emotions. Skye looked at him with her deep brown eyes, encouraging him to let it out. 'I don't… I don't know what's wrong with me. It's like that piece of me is missing. I try and it's just not there.'

Skye paused for a moment, processing what he had said. 'You mean sex? You're not interested?' Skye asked. He wasn't sure how she'd managed to figure him out, but she'd done it.

'Yeah… basic human instinct and I don't have it. I want to, but it's just not there.' Skye moved round to comfort him, enveloping him in a hug. 'I just don't want to have sex, at first I just thought I was late to the sexual awakening train or whatever, like I was with puberty, but I don't think so.'

'What about other stuff, kissing and what not?' Skye asked him gently.

And then Skye's lips were on his, gently moving against his. 'You wanted experience, here it is.' Skye said as she pulled back at his lack of movement. 'Let me help you, it doesn't mean anything, just a friend helping a friend figure himself out ok?' Skye looked at him, and stroked a tear away from his face. He felt lightheaded and confused as to why the likes of Skye wanted anything to do with him physically, but he nodded his head. If he wanted clarification on himself this was a good way to do it. She leaned in again and this time he moved his lips against hers, he felt her bite down gently on his lower lip and he opened his mouth slightly in surprise. She deepened the kiss and took his open mouth as permission to move her tongue across his lips and then into his mouth. It all felt surprisingly good, better than he'd thought. He pulled away to breath and she looked at him, questioning him, asking what he thought.

'That was good. I like kissing.' He said, slightly breathlessly.

'You know you're not broken right? What you described sounds like asexuality to me. You should google it. It's just as natural as any other sexual orientation.' She murmured, resting her forehead against his. 'If there is anything else you want some experiment with, I'm willing to help, but I suggest we go back to yours first.' Skye slurred, reminding him that they were both rather drunk and possibly not in a good position to make any decisions.

'Let's just drink for now.' Fitz answered. He wanted to experiment more, but something was niggling at him. Skye wasn't who he wanted to experiment with. Skye nodded and grabbed her drink from across the table and rested her head against his shoulder, something that both girls did with him. It always confused him as to why, _surely it would hurt their necks?_ But he enjoyed the contact and how comfortable they were around him, so he never questioned it.

They continued to drink and their conversations deteriorated into drunken slurs. Last call came and went and they found themselves in a cab back to Fitz's. The two sat in a comfortable silence for the journey, the only conversation to pay the driver. As Fitz fumbled with the keys to his door he asked Skye a question. 'Did you really mean it? That you'd help me figure myself out?' The buzz of alcohol giving him confidence and his desire to finally understand himself override his feeling of wanting to discover himself with the right person.

Skye nodded, as much as he knew she was always up for a quick shag, he also knew her standards were usually above him. 'Ok, good.' He said as he led her through the doorway and down the corridor to his room. He unlocked his door and let them both through before closing it. 'Ummm, I don't know what to do?'

'I could lead, and you tell me what you like, don't like and if you want to stop at any point?' Skye offered, her slurs barely registering with him.

'Okay…' Fitz answered, before Skye leaned forward and pushed him against the door.

After a heavy make out session, they both ended up on Fitz's bed, Skye lying on top of him. 'Okay, so we can up the sexual nature, slightly, if you want to see how that feels?' Skye suggested. Fitz considered this before nodding his head, if he didn't find his limit then he'd never know. Skye launched back into the kiss, this time deliberately grinding into his pelvis. It had become very clear that when it came to biology everything worked perfectly fine. She then retracted her hands from his hair and started to unbutton his top, slowly getting the message Fitz started to do the same. Once Skye had removed his top she started to wonder her hands up and down his chest, her mouth wondering to his collar bone. So far so good Fitz thought, maybe he was making a big deal out of nothing, perhaps his lack of activity had made him think he was different. He let his hands trail over her and played with the strap of her bra. She sucked down on a tendon on his neck and he let out a small moan. At that moment he felt his uncertainties leave him and he made his decision.

'Skye?' She stopped what she was doing immediately, she might have been drunk, but she had not forgotten the terms of their agreement. 'I was wondering if… we could just try it? Just so I know for definite?' Skye sat up, so that she was straddling his midriff and took a moment to let what he was saying sink in.

'Are you sure? That's a big decision and we're drunk.'

'Yeah, I'll never have the courage sober, and I need to know, in fact I will write everything down after as a note for us in the morning, we might not remember, but at least that way I'll know the conclusions to the experiment. And it's only science if you document it all.'

Skye let out a little laugh, he knew this wasn't a normal sexual encounter, but if he was truly going to treat this as a scientific experiment, then he needed to write down his findings. 'I want you to be one hundred percent sure Fitz.' Skye said one her laugher had subsided.

'I am, I just want to know, for certain who I am, I can't know for certain if I don't try it. It's like a scientific experiment.' He paused for a moment before realising she hadn't agreed to it yet. 'You're ok with this, right?' Skye nodded and Fitz let out a sigh of relief.

'Okay, how do you want this, just straight up, basic sex?' Skye asked, he nodded, he only needed to know if he liked it and it felt right, he didn't need to experiment beyond that. 'Right ok, you know I never thought I'd be having sex as part of a scientific experiment.' She let out a laugh. 'I'll walk you through everything and stop the second you ask. I Just need to get a condom out of my bag.' Fitz just nodded his head, he hadn't even thought about that aspect of it all.

Once they'd started, he was pretty sure he wasn't going to ever be bothered about a repeat performance, it wasn't that he didn't feel comfortable or even that it wasn't pleasurable, it just wasn't him, he had no craving for it. In all honesty it did feel pretty good, but he just didn't enjoy it, he didn't want to do it again as soon as possible as he was fairly certain he was supposed to. But for the sake of science he continued to the end.

'So?' Skye asked rolling down to lie beside him.

'I was right.' Fitz said simply as he discarded the used condom. 'Not to say it didn't feel good, it just didn't feel right.' He clarified, not wanting to offend her.

'So asexual, huh… never knowingly met an ace before.' Skye mused, seemingly slightly more sober than before.

'Do you think it's weird?' Fitz asked, self-consciously as he pulled out his note pad and turned his bedside light on. He started carefully jotting down everything that they had tried and what he'd like, what he'd felt he'd like to do again and what he hadn't liked and what he didn't want to do again. He also tried to explain why he felt like he did which was rather hard whilst in his state of inebriation.

'Nope, it's just different, and there's nothing wrong with that.' Skye said as she put his discarded shirt and her knickers on. She then tossed him his boxers and settled back into his bed. 'Now enlightened by our experiment, do you think you have feelings for Jemma?'

'I don't know, I hadn't really thought about it before… Don't tell her about this ok, or at least the why, I get that you like telling each other stuff so I guess you can say it happened, but just not that it was an experiment.' Fitz said slowly, struggling to concentrate on both his note making and talking.

'She won't judge you.' Skye said softly.

'I know, or at least I hope so. It's more just that I want to tell her myself, in my own time.' Fitz explained.

'Fair enough. I'll only tell her if she asks or I feel I need to for whatever reason.' Skye said slowly.

'Thanks.' Fitz said, finally satisfied with his notes. He picked up his bowers that lay on his lap above the duvet where Skye had thrown them and wriggled into them under the covers. 'This isn't going to mess our friendship up is it?'

'Nah, I doubt I'll remember any specifics in the morning anyway, and I won't let it, this was just me helping you out, so I don't see why anything has to change with us.'

'Good.' Sinking down into his bed he turned the light off and the two said their goodnights in the early hours of the morning, ready to sleep off their inevitable hangovers.

So hopefully you don't hate me for this chapter. I promise the next few are good for Fitzsimmons. Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think :)


	16. Day 78

As promised an extra chapter to make up for my lack of recent activity, I'll be back to posting once a week after this :)

Day 78

Jemma walked up the road towards Fitz's house, as she turned into the drive she saw the garage door open. Certain that it would be either Fitz or Mack in there she popped her head round the wall to peer in. Sure enough Fitz was stood with his back to her bent over the front of a car, peering in at the engine. 'Hey.' She said softly, putting her bag down by the entrance. His head shot up and hit the open bonnet of the car with a thud. 'Shit, I'm sorry.' Jemma rushed over to his aid.

'Nah, it's fine.' Fitz said turning to face her, rubbing the back of his head. Jemma took a step back, taking him in. He wore a vest, which had perhaps once been white, but was now a dull grey. Both he and his top were covered in grease, and there was a line of black through his unkempt curls where he had run his hand through them. A thin layer of glistening sweat covered his skin and shone under the light. His jeans sagged slightly, despite the belt wrapped around them, revealing the rim of his boxers. Taking a deep breath Jemma reminded herself of the reason for her impromptu visit.

'You left your work in the library again. The librarian has really had it with you now.' Jemma scolded light heartedly, dropping the books in her hands into his.

'She never liked me in the first place. ' He said with a cheeky grin. 'And to be fair it was a crowed desk, someone probably covered it with their own stuff.' Fitz defended. Jemma raised her eyebrows to let him know she didn't believe him. 'But thank you for coming to give it back. Do you want to come in for a cuppa?'

Jemma gave him an enthusiastic grin. 'I was going to have tea here whether you invited me or not, I didn't make the trek across town for a two minute stop. But you can finish up here first.' She went to pick up her bag and slipped into the chair by the wall. She watched him bend back over and carefully tend to the engine, his biceps and triceps flexing with each careful movement. 'What're you doing to it?' Jemma asked, before instantly regretting it, well almost. He then proceeded to go into excruciating detail on exactly what was wrong with the car and why, and then a long run down of all the ways to fix it and then into why his specific treatment was the best.

As much as she didn't understand the car jargon much she did enjoy listening to his voice when he talked about something he loved. The way his accent got a little thicker and his voice flowed with his words, she could listen to him all day. As his diagnosis of the car continued Jemma started to let her mind drift. Before she knew it, she was in a cosy little cottage in the countryside, snuggled up on a sofa with Fitz in front of a fire, watching Doctor Who. As she smiled at the image that had formed in her mind it took her a moment to realise Fitz was calling her name.

'Jemma? Earth to Jemma? I'm done, we can go inside now.' Fitz called, using the bottom of his vest to wipe his face and hands, revealing his stomach. The light layer of hair leading down below his jeans and the slight "v" shape of his pelvis momentarily distracted her from responding.

'Yeah sorry, zoned out for a minute there. And that doesn't count as cleaning up by the way.' Fitz laughed and shrugged, making it clear his mussed state didn't really bother him. Jemma just hoped he'd get showered and changed before they settled in for a catch up on their respective day, she was having a hard time focusing with him looking like that. It was an altogether confusing notion.

* * *

Skye was lounging on the sofa, her feet up on the coffee table, making some final tweaks to her program when Jemma burst through the door. 'Skye, I need to talk to you!' She said as she walked behind the futon to throw her bag in her room.

'Ok?' Skye said warily as Jemma plonked down next to her.

'This is serious and I need you to be honest with me and please don't laugh at me.' Jemma said, waiting until Skye nodded before continuing. 'Ok, right…' Jemma took in a deep breath, her obvious anxiety making Skye worry. 'I'm just going to say it. I think I have feelings for Fitz.' Jemma bit her upper lip, waiting for Skye's response.

'Yes! I knew it!' Skye hollered. She excitedly bobbed up and down in her seat before turning to sit cross legged facing Jemma. 'So tell me the details, I wanna know all? When did you figure it out?'

'You think this is ok? Does he feel the same? I don't want to ruin everything you know?'

'Yes this is good, you are made for each other, and of course he does, he's just a little slow in figuring it out, he'll get there though, he's just a noob so it'll take him some time. And don't avoid my questions by asking your own. I want the details.' Skye said with a massive grin, she couldn't help herself. It was all too exciting. Or it was, until she remembered what had happened between her and Fitz last Friday.

'Well I don't know exactly, it's been niggling away for some time I guess, like when his mum was in hospital I said something that made me realise how important he is to me and it's been in the back of my mind since then I guess. I just don't want to ruin everything, neither of us has ever had a long term relationship… but when I went to see him today he was working on a car and he was all dirty and in just a vest and he just looked amazing and it all just kinda clicked.' Jemma rambled, clearly not noticing Skye's smile turn from genuine to forced.

Skye took a deep breath before looking Jemma directly in the eye. 'Jemma, you have no idea how happy I am right now, but I need to tell you something and I'm really sorry, but it's going to hurt you.' Jemma's smile faltered and she gave Skye an inquisitive look.

'What? What did you do?'

'I'm really sorry. I can't explain it all, but… but Fitz and I... last Friday, we… ummm we got drunk and we…' Skye mumbled, tears building, she'd not thought about how their actions would affect Jemma, it had all been about helping Fitz figure himself out, but she couldn't tell Jemma that.

'You?' Jemma asked. The joy from moments before gone, Skye was fairly sure Jemma already knew what was coming.

'We had sex.' Skye said barely above a whisper. The look of horror and pain that spread across Jemma's face made Skye want to hug her, but she knew Jemma wouldn't want that right now.

'You slept with him? You knew I liked him and you still slept with him?' Jemma looked furious, and there was nothing Skye could say to make it better, the only thing that would make it better was confidential.

'Jemma please, I'm sorry, it wasn't what you think. It didn't mean anything.' Skye pleaded as Jemma pulled away from her and left the sofa.

'You think that matters? You still slept with him when you thought I liked him! And I'm probably not even supposed to be angry because I don't have any claim over him!' Jemma yelled, tears running down her face. 'Why, why would you do it? It must have been your idea, he would never suggest that, he wouldn't want his first time to be so meaningless!'

'Jemma, I can't tell you, he asked me not.' Skye cried.

'What the hell does that mean?' Jemma asked, she looked like she was going to start throwing things.

'Talk to him about it…' Skye begged, he was the only one who could make this better. Although Skye was unsure how much Jemma would understand how far from an actual drunken one night stand it had been, her knowing what had really happened would at least calm her a bit. How could she tell her it was more of a science experiment than anything else without going against Fitz's wishes?

'I can't talk to him about this. He clearly isn't interested. Why would you tell me he is when you just went and slept with him less than two weeks ago?' Jemma shouted through her tears as she paced back and forth behind the futon.

'Jemma dammit, I can't tell you, you need to have this conversation with him.' Skye said, almost raising her voice in frustration.

'No! I can't even look at you, how could I talk to him about this? If you're going to be so bloody unhelpful in answering my questions I'm going to bed.' Jemma said walking into her room.

'No.' Skye said quickly getting off the chair and grabbing her arm. 'I don't want this conversation to end with you mad at me. Please just yell at me until you get it out of your system and then we can sort this out.'

'There is nothing to sort out.' Jemma snarled, causing Skye to recoil. Jemma stepped back into her room further and slammed the door. 'If you want to make this better don't tell him I know.' Jemma sobbed through the door.

'Ok…' Was all Skye could manage. How had she managed to turn Jemma's revelation about Fitz into their biggest argument ever? Skye was mad at the situation, mad at the timing and mad at herself. At the time it had felt like the right thing to do, but now it just hurt.

Skye fell back against Jemma's door, and let the tears fall. All she'd wanted to do was help out a friend, but in the process she'd betrayed another. Inhaling deeply she got up and walked into her room, abandoning her work on the laptop. She shut her door and let herself fall onto her bed face down. She hit the mattress a couple of times before crawling under her duvet, she curled up and cried herself to sleep.

I hope you enjoyed this, please let me know what you think, I love getting your feedback :)


	17. Day 95

Some cute Fitzsimmons moments in this chapter so I hope you enjoy it :)

Day 95

It had been a difficult few weeks for Jemma to say the least. It had taken her almost a week to pluck up the courage to see Fitz again, giving him the excuse of being busy with work or studying whenever he suggested meeting up. Jemma and Skye were still barely speaking, Skye was trying to fix things, but Jemma was still too hurt by her "best friend's" actions. They made sure to keep up appearances around Fitz, although they had managed to see him mostly individually. So far, he was blissfully unaware of the fight and Jemma's growing feelings, and that was how she wished to keep it.

Tonight both she and Fitz were going to Bobbi's house party, with Skye claiming she was unwell, Jemma would have Fitz all to herself. Jemma left her flat without saying goodbye and met Fitz at the entrance to her building.

'Ready?' He asked, holding out a hand, offering to take her bag of drinks from her. Jemma nodded and handed him the bag with an appreciative smile. Fitz was dressed in a slightly baggy blueish-grey sweater and black jeans. His hair was messier than usual and he had a slight fuzz of facial hair covering his jaw, indicating that things with his mother weren't going well. As they walked the short walk over to Bobbi's the two chattered mindlessly about their weeks.

'When are you going to tell me what's going on between you and Skye?' Fitz asked when there was a lull in the conversation.

'I don't know what you mean.' Jemma lied.

Fitz grabbed her wrist stopping the two of them and pulled Jemma to the side of the path. 'Jemma Simmons, you are not a good liar. In fact you're a terrible liar. You and Skye are fighting and I've given you both enough time to tell me and neither of you have, I also gave you enough time to fix it by yourselves, but you haven't. So now I'm stepping in. So please tell me what's going on.' Fitz said, looking her dead in the eye.

Jemma, slightly flustered by the way he had grabbed her, tried to look at him evenly, not wanting to give anything away. 'We're just having a slight disagreement. But I don't want to get into it, can we please just enjoy tonight?'

Fitz sighed before nodding. 'Fine, but tomorrow you tell me what's going on.'

'Fine.' Jemma lied. There was absolutely no way she was going to tell him what had happened.

Once they reached Bobbi's Fitz became clearly anxious, and on a whim Jemma reached for his hand to give it a light squeeze. After some awkward conversations with some of Jemma's other friends she soon realised that the best way to help Fitz relax was to get some alcohol in him. After a few shots had warmed both their systems, the two made their way into the lounge, which seemed to have become the dance floor.

'Come on.' Jemma whined as she tugged at Fitz's arm. 'Just one dance, you might like it.'

'No, I won't.' Fitz huffed at the side of the room. 'I don't know what to do, and they're all just jumping up and down and looking like idiots.'

'How about we go up when there's a slow one then?' The idea of slow dancing with Fitz was far more appealing than it should have been. 'I really want to dance and seeing as Skye's not here that makes you my dance partner.'

'More reason for you two to make up then.' Fitz countered.

'I'm not sure if we will this time.' Jemma said to herself, forgetting Fitz could hear her.

'What the hell happened?' Fitz asked, evidently shocked by her admission.

'It doesn't matter.' Jemma said looking at her feet.

'Evidently it does.' Fitz said taking her by the wrist to the sofa.

'She just did something that she knew would upset me.' Jemma let slip, regretting it as soon as she saw a look cross Fitz's face that meant he was starting to put the pieces together. Fitz was silent for a moment before taking his phone out and excusing himself, saying his mum was calling. Jemma was unconvinced, but let him go.

* * *

Fitz let himself out into the garden and brought Skye's contact up onto his phone, he let out a sigh before pressing the call button and bringing it up to his ear. He waited for her to answer before stating his interrogation. 'What are you and Jemma fighting about?'

'Hello to you too, and that's none of your business.' Skye said sourly.

'It's about me and you isn't it, you told her?' Fitz questioned.

'So what if it is?'

'Because she is saying she doesn't think she can forgive you. I need to know so that I can fix things.'

'Please Fitz, let us sort this out. Just stay out of it.'

'Skye, am I the reason that you guys are fighting?'

'No.' Skye said after too long a pause.

'Don't lie to me Skye.'

'I'm not lying. Now go and enjoy your party.'

'No. Why is she so upset about it?'

'It doesn't matter Fitz.'

'Yes it does.' Fitz said raising his voice. 'It matters to me that you guys are fighting, I don't like it!'

'Look, Fitz, things are complicated and I truly believe that if you butt your nose in it could ruin things for you and Jemma too. So please let me work this out.' Skye said in such a tone that made Fitz listen.

'You have one more week to fix this.' Fitz said through gritted teeth before hanging up. He then went back into the house through the backdoor in the kitchen and downed three more shots. Once he was done he left the room in search for Jemma. He found her with a group of girls, cautiously he crept up behind and tapped her on her shoulder. Jemma spun round, her face mere inches from his. A flash of something that he couldn't decipher crossed her face before she pulled back and introduced him to the group. Eventually Jemma excused them and they made their way back to the sofa, they continued to chat, leaving Jemma and Skye's argument out of the conversation. Occasionally they would get up to get more drinks, but the spent the majority of the evening chatting on the sofa. As the night progressed Jemma was getting more and more touchy, shuffling closer into his side, and he found himself quite enjoying it.

Fitz was vaguely aware of John Legend's 'All of Me' starting to play in the background. Jemma tugged his arm, pulling him up. 'Come on, just one dance, it's slow so all you have to do is sway.' Whether it was the drinks in him or the fact that most people seemed to have found their way out into the kitchen or garden (despite the cool April air), Fitz stood up without complaint. Jemma took his hand and lead him to the centre of the room. She placed his arms around her waist and then wrapped her own arms around his neck. Despite this being a completely new aspect of their friendship Fitz found himself pleased when she placed her head in the crock of his neck.

'See, I said you'd like this.' Jemma murmured against his neck, her breath tickling his sensitive skin.

'Mmhmm.' Fitz whispered, breathing in the fruity aroma of her hair. 'It's not too bad I suppose.' His head was spinning and his balance was unreliable at best, neither of which were being helped by their gentle rocking. He tucked his chin on top of her head and closed his eyes, letting himself enjoy the closeness that they were sharing. It occurred to him that this was the sort of thing couples did, not friends. This thought sparked the dangerous thought of wondering what it would be like to be Jemma's boyfriend, not that she would ever be remotely interested in him, but still, he couldn't help but wonder.

He then thought about what had happened between him and Skye, despite Skye's determination to keep him out of their fight he was sure it had something to do with their experiment. The only hole in that reasoning was why Jemma would be upset with it. It wasn't as if she was against one night stands, if you could even call it that. The only reasoning for her upset that he could find would be if she was interested in him, but that was preposterous, there was no world in which that was a possibility. Or was there? She was the one who had been all touchy feely and she had asked him to dance with her. She was the one who had her hands in his hair and twirling his ringlets round her fingers. _No don't be silly Fitz, she's just drunk._ It was silly letting himself even entertain the idea.

It wasn't as if he actually wanted that anyway. Or he didn't think he did. He didn't even know what being a boyfriend really meant, and he knew Jemma had a fairly active sex life and that was something he couldn't provide. Although when he thought about it, in the last month or so she seemed to have stopped having her hook ups. Was that just because she was busy or was there something else at play? He internally shook his head to stop his trail of thought. It was pointless to ponder over something that would never work, and he wasn't sure it was even what he wanted. But if he couldn't fulfil her needs then there was no point even dwelling on it.

Jemma's soft voice disrupted his internal argument. 'What're you thinking?'

'Umm, nothing much, just that this is nice.' He mumbled. She lifted her head from his shoulder and looked up at him with a smile.

'It is, isn't it? I said you'd like parties.'

'Well, I've barely spoken to anyone other than you, so I think I kinda cheated.' Fitz said softly, her hazel eyes capturing all his attention. _Was talking always this hard?_

'True, but we all know that I'm the best company here anyway.' Jemma smirked.

'Mmm… I'm not so sure, that Bobbi girl seems pretty cool, maybe I'll ditch you for her.' Fitz teased.

'Sure, go on then?' Jemma grinned back, calling his bluff.

'What kind of man would I be leaving you all on your lonesome?'

Jemma let out a giggle before leading him to the door as the song ended. 'It's getting late. You ready to leave now?'

'Sure.' Jemma kept a hold on his hand as they weaved through the house, trying to find Bobbi to say goodbye. As it turned out she was upstairs hooking up with her ex, so they slipped out and Jemma sent her a text instead.

Jemma's hand moved to wrap around his arm as she clung to him for support as they made the walk home. 'Maybe you should crash on our sofa?' Jemma suggested.

'Nah, it's ok, I'll be alright on the bus.' Fitz answered. He had been tempted to accept, but he was able to get the part of his brain that made good decisions to work and answer for him. Skye and Jemma didn't need the added tension on him being around to fuel their fight further. Under the light of the street lamps Fitz though Jemma looked disappointed at his response, but he couldn't be sure.

'Ok…'

Fitz and Jemma made it safely back to her flat and they said their goodbyes at the bottom of her building before Fitz made his way to the bus stop. After what felt like forever a bus arrived, the half hour journey taking him an extra hour as he made the circuit twice, due to an ill-timed nap. When he finally got home he crept along the hallway, covering his ears at the loud sounds of Grant Ward's evening activities. He unlocked his door and fell into his bed, not wanting to think about the headache he would have in the morning.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, please let me know what you thought :)


	18. Day 99

Sorry its a bit late, had some issues with my laptop. I hope you enjoy this :)

Day 99

'Tea or Coffee?' Jemma asked as she neared the front of the queue. The coffee shop was bustling with people, but most were takeaways so the seating area was unusually quiet.

'Coffee, need something to wake me up, so an espresso please.' Fitz grumbled next to her. Jemma's head shifted form Fitz so Skye, awaiting her answer.

'Iced Americano please.' Skye said, grabbing Fitz's arm and dragging him to a table.

'Not so fast.' Fitz moaned as he resisted her pull on his sweater. Although it had been his idea to get them all to go out and get a drink, he had not intended to have it quite so early. 'Why are you so awake? I thought you and I were on the same page about mornings?'

'We are, this is just the first time Jemma's made a genuine effort since our fight.' Skye said in a hushed voice, not wanting Jemma to overhear.

Fitz grinned, feeling proud of himself. Jemma had been oddly quiet since the party and they had only seen each other when the bumped into each other on campus. Refusing to let one of the few meaningful relationships he had go, Fitz had taken things into his own hands and decided to call her out on it and give her a call. She had claimed it was because of things still being difficult between her and Skye, so he had told her that they needed to fix it because he wasn't having her drift away from him because of their argument. She had then mumbled some excuse before he decided enough was enough. He gave her the ultimatum of fixing it now, and them all getting a drink together or not seeing him until they sorted it on their own terms. Needless to say she had changed her tone quickly.

Skye cocked her head to the side with a quizzical expression. 'What did you do?'

'I did what was necessary.' Fitz said with finality.

'Which was?' Skye said, eyebrows raised in frustration.

'I just gave her some extra incentive for fixing the problem.' Fitz answered. Skye let out a breath of frustration before shaking her head.

'Fine, don't tell me, but I guess I should be thanking you, we sat down last night and talked and I think we're going to be ok. Like she's still upset, but she's getting to a point of forgiveness. I think she wants to be able to forgive me, so that's progress.' Skye said burying her head in her hands.

'It is about us, isn't it? The timings match up. What did you tell her, why's she so upset by it?' Fitz asked for what felt like the thousandth time. He was hoping, after getting them to sort their issues out, she might grace him with an answer.

Skye groaned in frustration. 'I can't say, and Jemma's coming so no more talk of it.' Skye said. 'How's everything with you?'

'Ok I guess, Grant's still being a pain in the arse, but he's not asked to use my room for his dates again. At first I wasn't sure if he was just not picking women up or if he was using his room again, but I heard him Friday night, or technically Saturday morning, so I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore. I suspect Mack had a few words with him, but I haven't asked.' Fitz said, midway through Jemma joined them at the table and distributed the drinks.

'Well, as gross as that request was, I'm glad he did, otherwise we might not have become friends.' Jemma smiled. Fitz grinned back, and caught a look of internal turmoil flash across Skye's features. Clearly she wanted to say something sarcastic at Jemma's slightly cheesy sentiment, but was unsure as to whether that was appropriate yet.

The conversation carried on, both Skye and Jemma unsure as to where exactly their friendship stood. Both fought off urges to joke and mock the other, neither willing to risk another fight. It occurred to Fitz that things must have been incredibly awkward for them both at home. Neither talking to each other above the bare minimum in the last few weeks.

For the first time in their friendships it was Fitz who carried the conversation. Brining in new topics to discuss when the conversation faltered or when things got awkward. It was a strange feeling of both power and responsibility, and it was truly exhausting. He was not cut out for it and the sooner they got back to normal the better.

In the last few days Fitz had been trying to figure out why Jemma might be mad that he and Skye slept together, and about her behaviour at the party. And so far he had come up with nothing. Perhaps it was one of those girl things, that guys always said confused them because they thought differently. All he knew was that it was confusing him, he had considered asking her about that too, during their phone call, but he had decided that Skye and Jemma's friendship was the more important thing to deal with.

However, the most confusing bit was how every time he thought about Jemma, he remembered how she smelt so close up and how she felt pressed against him. And he liked thinking about it. He wanted to spend more time close to her. Which he was fairly sure wasn't what he should be thinking about as her friend.

The conversation was fizzling out again and he was just about to ask Skye about her classes when his phone went off. He reached into his pocket and looked at the caller ID. His heart stopped when he saw that it was his mother's carer, she wasn't supposed to call him today. He answered it, his hands already trembling. He could see Skye and Jemma's anxious faces, but they were the least of his concerns. 'Hello?'

'Hi Leo. I'm afraid we have had a bit of an incident.' The woman on the end of the phone said in far too cheery a voice. His heart was in his throat and he felt like he might throw up any second. 'She's fine now but you mother chocked on her breakfast, thankfully I was present and I did the necessary first aid.' Fitz breathed in a sigh of relief, at least she was ok. 'But I strongly suggest making sure that she always has someone around when she eats from now on. Since her stroke she's had lots of minor choking issues, nothing she couldn't handle, but this one was serious. I dread to think what would have happened if I wasn't present.' It felt like a punch to the stomach. The air left his lungs and he struggled to fill them again. His nausea returned and his head felt oddly light.

Before he worried her with his lack of response he opened his mouth, unsure of what he was going to say until he said it. 'I'll fly back up and look after her until I can sort something out on a permanent basis.'

'That would be fantastic. Are you sure you can do that with your studies?'

'Yeah, I'll find a flight later today. I'll be there sometime in the afternoon.' Fitz said before she gave him some more information about who to contact when he arrived. He said his goodbye and hung up, dropping his phone onto the table. He sat staring at nothing in particular for a good minute before he noticed his trembling hands and Skye and Jemma's comforting grip on his arm. 'She chocked…' His voice caught at the end and he stopped himself from continuing. Jemma brought her chair round next to him and wrapped an arm around him. She rubbed his back gently and he leaned into her hug, putting his head on her shoulder as she so often did with him.

'I'll go get you a tea.' Skye said softly, getting up and giving Jemma a pointed look, which meant nothing to him. Jemma drew him in and ran a hand over his hair at the back of his head, stroking it, soothing his troubled mind.

'The carer says she needs someone with her whenever she eats or drinks.' He mumbled against her. If he weren't so preoccupied he might have been enjoying the close proximity, the smell of her and her comforting presents, but his mind was too full of worry to enjoy the moment. He opened his mouth to say more, but all that came were tears. He managed to control the ugly sobs that threatened to emerge, but he couldn't stop the tears from coming. Jemma pulled him into her further and drew gentle circles against his arm where her hand held him. He missed the presents of her hand in his hair, but he didn't complain. She muttered soothing words that he didn't take in and he reached for his tea when Skye reappeared with it.

'I need to book a flight.' He managed to say once his tears had slowed. Without saying anything Skye pulled out her laptop and logged on.

'Please use the money my mum gave you, Fitz.' Jemma said in such a manner that he knew it wasn't a question. And for once he didn't have it in him to argue, pride was the last thing he cared about. So instead he simply nodded against her shoulder. 'Good.' Jemma answered. The only real thought it sparked was reminding him he still had to pay them back at some point, despite Jemma's protests that he didn't need to.

Fitz zoned out after that, he was vaguely aware of Skye on her laptop and a question was asked at which he just nodded, perhaps something about the flight. Jemma dug into his pocket at one point to retrieve his wallet and presumably pay for his flight. They then made him stand up and they got on the bus, he was aware of them heading back to his house, but unaware of their arrival until they made him stand up and get off. He unlocked the front door and padded down the hall to his room, once they were in his room he simply sat on his bed, unable to manage much more.

Thankfully Jemma and Skye started to pack his bag as he just stared at the wall, feeling like his life was falling apart. He yet again had the sense of dread that he might lose his mother sooner rather than later, which unfortunately was something he was far too familiar with for a nineteen year old.

Skye and Jemma were mindlessly chatting, which he would have been proud of an hour ago, but now it was just irking him. He felt his blood begin to boil and a part of him on some level knew it wasn't them he was mad at, but it wasn't a part of him that was in control of his mouth. 'Shut up! Just shut up, I don't care about how cute the barista was or how hard your essay was!' He said jumping off the bed. 'Some of us have real problems in life to deal with!' Rage gripped his body and he lashed out at his desk, knocking its content to the floor. 'Some of us are facing the very real possibility of losing their mother.' His voice caught on the last few words and he kicked his wardrobe door, his foot broke through the wood with a snap. 'Fuck sake!' He yelled as he saw the damage. He yanked his foot out making it even worse, the whole door would need replacing. 'Shit!' He yelled as he turned around. Suddenly Jemma was standing in front of him and grabbed his arms.

'Fitz, it's going to be ok.' She said as she tried to sooth him.

'No it's fucking not! She's got bloody Parkinson's! You're the biologist, you know what that means.' He said, yanking away from her grip. He could see Skye bent down picking up the work which had been on his desk and for a moment he thought he might be able to calm down. 'She's going to die, it's just a matter of time. Just a matter of when the universe decides to take my mum from me, just like it took my dad.' The tears were flowing once again, but he didn't care, he just needed to throw something. So he did, he wasn't sure what it was, but he through it at his door and it broke with a satisfying crash. He let out a strangled scream before smacking his hand against the wall. 'Nothing is ever going to be ok. I can't lose her, I need her, she's my mum. They have my dad isn't that enough? Why can't that be enough? She's might never see me graduate or get married or… I don't fucking know, but there is so much she's not going to see and she's not going to be able to grow old a-and she's nev-' His tears cut him off and he slumped to the floor, letting his cries shake his body. 'What am I going to do?'

Skye and Jemma came and sat either side of him, each taking a hand. 'We aren't there yet.' Skye told him. 'And you have us. We can't take the situation away, but we can help you deal with it.' Fitz just nodded as he wrapped his arms around his knees and let his head roll forward, looking down at the floor between his legs. 'Shhhhh.' Skye soothed as both girls stroked his arms and Jemma hugged him.

'I just hate it, it's not fair.' He mumbled, his anger dissipating, leaving him exhausted.

'We know.' Jemma said with a sympathetic sigh.

'And now I have to get on a plane and pretend everything is fine for the next few hours.' He lifted his head and looked around at the damage he had inflicted to his already messy room. 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go off on you both. I couldn't manage all this without you.'

'It's ok, we understand.' Jemma's hand found its way back onto his hair and he found himself leaning into her touch. If he had nothing else, at least he had had the luck to walk into that dingy hotel to find her on shift that night, earlier in the year.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to leave a comment, it's much appreciated :)


	19. Day 108

Hi, here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it :)

Day 108

Fitz put down the shopping bags as he let himself into the bungalow. He was met with the familiar site of his mother's messy living room. Clothes were piled high on some of the chairs and clutter covered most of the floor, despite his best clean-up efforts over the last few days. 'Mum! I've got the shopping.' He called as he walked into the room. The only response he received was that of the TV which was playing an episode of "Friends". 'Mum?' He called out again as he walked past the TV and into the kitchen.

He found himself looking at the one thing he dreaded most. She was collapsed on the floor with a broken glass of water in front of her. 'Mum?' He choked out as he knelt down next to her to feel for a pulse, seconds later he pulled out his phone and dialled 999.

The last two hours had been the most emotional of his life. He looked around the bungalow and surveyed the damage he had just finished inflicting. The clothes and bric a brac were now strewn across the floor from his fit of rage and he was now slumped against the wall that connected his mother's room to the lounge. He felt empty, the anger had left him the moment he had knocked the TV to the floor and now all that was left was the sense of being truly alone. There was only one coherent thought in his head and that was that he needed Jemma. He found his phone from where he had thrown it upon re-entering the house and found her contact, desperately praying that she would pick up.

'Jemma?' Fitz asked, his voice already breaking.

'Hey, are you ok?' Jemma asked, picking up on his tone.

He shook his head before remembering she couldn't see him. 'No.' He croaked, his throat contracting before he could say anything else.

'Oh Fitz… What happened?' Jemma asked, her voice full of concern that he didn't deserve.

'She's gone... I w-went out to the shops and when I-I came back she was…she was on the floor…' Fitz took a moment to collect himself wiping his tears and taking a deep breath. 'I called the ambulance, but it was too late she… as-asphyxiation. She choked. If I'd been here I could have saved her, but I wasn't, I left her and now she's dead because of me.' Saying the words out loud made his throat squeeze shut once again, his words lost to his tears. Jemma tried to sooth him over the phone, but all he could hear was his own cries as he relived the last few hours over and over again. 'I killed her. I left and she's dead.'

'No you didn't. Fitz, listen to me. You are not responsible for this, you have done everything you can, and unfortunately it wasn't enough. But this is not your fault. Do you understand me?' Jemma told him in as stern a voice as she could muster. He could hear her voice breaking too, evidently he'd upset her. It was then that he realised he shouldn't have called, he had just gone and ruined her evening too. There was no need to have hurt her by telling her what had happened, it had been selfish.

'I'm sorry I shouldn't have called, I didn't mean to upset you.' He mumbled when his breathing allowed him to speak again. 'I'm just going to go.'

'FITZ! Do not hang up on me. I swear I will fly all the way to Scotland just to kick your arse if you do that.' She paused and he heard her take a deep breath in. 'You are such an idiot sometimes, you know that right? Just because I'm now upset doesn't mean that you shouldn't have called. I want to help you, this is how friendship works, you moron.' She said affectionately. 'I'm here for you and I hope that if I'm ever in a similar situation then you'll be there for me.'

'Always.' Fitz said wiping a tear away as it rolled down his cheek.

'Now let it out, it's ok, you need to get it all out. And I'm here for you.' Jemma soothed.

For the next few hours Fitz told Jemma everything, starting from the day his mother got her diagnosis. He told her about the stress and strain of it all and his internal conflict about going to University and the difficulty of making sure she had the right care. He cried and he vented, told her how he thought it was the "bloody cosmos'" fault and that it was out to get him. Obviously she thought it was ridiculous, but she had quickly let it go. He told her about his father and how all he remembered was his funeral. He panicked to her about funeral planning and selling the house. And he cried some more, until he had no more tears left and his voice was hoarse. Jemma tried her best to soothe him and promised to help him. She gave advice where should could and set him straight when he grew hysterical. She made the whole ordeal somewhat bearable.

'You know, a horrible part of me is relieved.' He whispered. As if he didn't want her to hear him. 'Relieved that it's over and I don't have to worry and of course that she's not suffering any more. But mostly relieved that I don't have to deal with it anymore. And I hate that part of me, but I can't stop it.'

'I think that's human Fitz. I really do, and it doesn't make your grief any less, it doesn't mean that you don't love her. It just means that you love yourself too. Which is good, you should love yourself.' Jemma soothed. There was a knock on her bedroom door. Before their argument Skye would have knocked and then come straight in, but now she always waited for

a response. It was just one of the ways that their friendship had weakened after what they both referred to as the "incident".

'One minute Fitz.' She held the phone to her chest so she could answer the door. 'Yeah?' Skye poked her head in, giving her a quizzical look as she took in the sight of Jemma's tear stained face and the box of tissues she had worked through. Skye rushed over to wrap her in a hug before speaking.

'Is that Fitz?' Jemma nodded. 'Is his mum ok?' Jemma shock her head and let her piece everything together. Skye held out her hand for the phone and asked 'Can I?'

Jemma picked up the phone and lifted it back to her ear. 'Skye's here, do you want to talk to her?' Jemma waited for his conformation before handing the phone over to her.

Jemma was still torn up about Skye and Fitz having slept together. On one hand she hadn't had a claim over him and Skye said that it was more complicated than it seemed. That she needed to talk to Fitz about it; and part of her believed her, but part of her couldn't understand what could make it more complicated and there was no way she was bringing it up with Fitz. On the other hand Skye had known how she felt and had slept with him anyway and that was a betrayal of trust. She had forgiven her to some extent, enough for them to be friends again, but the unconditional trust was no longer there.

The thought of the two of them together, no matter how little it meant to either party, made her feel sick. Soon she found she had let her mind linger on the thought for too long and now she needed to get out. 'I'm going to order some food. Is Chinese ok?' She asked in a hushed voice, Skye nodded, taking her own phone out and giving it to Jemma so that she could make the call. Jemma quickly got up and fled to the safety of the living room. She found the leaflet in the cupboard draw and then dialled the number on Skye's phone. She put in their usual order and then paced about the living room until Skye came out to join her a good fifteen minutes later.

'He's going to bed now.' Skye said as the two exchanged phones. 'Jemma?' Jemma lifted her head from her feet and looked at Skye. 'Are we good yet? Because for like a minute I thought we were, but now I'm getting the feeling that we aren't…' Skye said quickly, chewing her lip whilst she waited for an answer.

'I really want us to be…'

'You're just not there yet.' Skye finished with a sigh. 'What else can I do?'

'I don't know, I guess I'm not angry anymore. I'm just hurt and I don't know how to make it stop.' Jemma answered, wishing their food would hurry up and arrive.

Skye looked down at her shoes and then wiped her hand under her eye. 'Please just talk to him.'

'How can I do that now? His mother just died! I can't go "Why'd you sleep with my best friend? Because I'm upset about it because I think I might be in love with you."' It took Jemma a moment to realise what exactly she had just said. There was a clear conflict on Skye's face, part elated that Jemma thought she was in love with Fitz and part devastated as it made her and Fitz's night that much more painful for Jemma.

'You love him?' Skye asked, evidently needing clarification. Jemma nodded and Skye took in a sharp breath. 'I wouldn't have done it if I'd known you were in love with him. I stand by mine and Fitz's reasons, neither of us regretted it. But I do regret that it hurt you and I wish I could explain, but you need to trust me when I say that there is a reason that we had sex and you need to talk to him about it when you're both ready.' Skye took a step forward and Jemma resisted the urge to hug her and cry to her about the situation. Had the reason for a good deal of her pain not been Skye that is exactly what she would have done.

'I just hate this situation.' Jemma mumbled.

'Me too.' Skye said as she hesitantly reached forward and embraced Jemma. Jemma gave up on trying to stay distant with her best friend and gave in to her overwhelming need to be hugged.

'I don't want to fight with you anymore. I just wish it didn't hurt.' Jemma said softly into Skye's shoulder.

'I'm sorry.' Skye replied, rubbing Jemma's back with her hand.

'When you say it's more complicated than it seems, do you really honestly mean that?'

'Yes.' Skye answered as they broke away from each other.

'Would it still hurt if I knew the full story?'

'I don't know, I'm sure it would hurt a lot less at least.'

'Okay.' Jemma paused before she continued. 'Then this fight is paused until I get a chance to discuss it all with Fitz, and then we will have a conversation once I have all the data. But for now we are good and I'm trusting your judgement.' Jemma said softly with a small smile.

'Really?' Skye beamed. Jemma nodded and Skye hugged her again. 'Good, so can we talk about Fitz now without it being awkward and painful?'

'Yeah we can.' Jemma smiled fondly at her friend.

'Right ok, good. Because when the hell did you realise you love him? I need details here!' Skye said, practically vibrating with excitement. Skye was tugging her over to the sofa when the doorbell rang. 'I'll get it, you get some drinks, and then we are having some good old fashioned girl talk over dinner.'

'I'm not sure how appropriate that is given his mother died today…'

'Yeah but I'm impatient and he doesn't ever need to know. Now let me answer the door.'

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, feedback is always appreciated :)


	20. Day 116

Here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy, and thank you for all your feedback, it always makes me smile knowing that people actually enjoy what I'm writing :)

Day 116

Fitz stood in front of the small congregation of people, no more than thirty people had shown up. He looked down at his notes, then to the coffin and finally to Jemma and Skye, who were sat in the front row. They had flown up two days prior, on Wednesday morning and had been helping him prepare for the funeral and pack up the bungalow. They each gave him an encouraging smile, he took a deep breath before beginning to read his eulogy.

'I don't really have any big anecdotes to share with you. In a lot of ways my mum and I had a simple life. And I could rattle off a long list of amazing things that she did, because if there is one thing my mother was, it's selfless to a fault. I could tell you how she made sure I went to the university that I wanted to, despite her being ill. I could tell you how she put her grief over my father aside to take care of me. I could tell you about the time I broke my arm and she sang to me the whole time at the hospital to cheer me up. I could tell you a lot of things, but most of you already know all that. So I decided that I want to share a story with you that you won't know, one that until a few days ago, only mum and I knew. But now she's gone so I think it's time that this lived on in more people than just me.' He took a deep breath and found his eye's wonder up to Jemma, who gave him another smile, her nose wrinkling slightly.

'Mum and I didn't have much money, but she always said that one day we'd go on holiday. I was about eight and desperately wanted to go camping. And since she'd promised me, she had to deliver.' This let out a little laugh, anyone who had met his mother knew her dislike of the outdoors. 'So, we drove like five hours south to the Peak District. It took us a while, but we set up the tent and settled down for marshmallows over the campfire and we watched the stars. Now some of you knew me as a child and you'll probably remember how bored I would get. So by the following morning I was tearing my hair out, because surprise surprise, there was nothing to do but walk. And that wasn't something that I was down with. So whilst mum is off in search of some toilets I took to the car. Opened up the bonnet and started tinkering with the tools from my dad's toolbox which was still in the car. By the time my mum's back the engine was in pieces, literal pieces.'

'So now my mum, who was force to go camping by her son, who twelve hours in decides camping is boring and wants to go home, has arrived to find that I had now dismantled our only way home.' He paused for effect as a small chuckles rippled through the audience. 'So naturally she yelled at me and then took me by the hand and we made the long hike up to the entrance where we could call a mechanic, despite my instance that I could in fact fix it myself. For some reason she wasn't on board with that. I can't imagine why.' He felt his confidence slipping, so he took a moment to collect himself and looked to Jemma once more. 'Now had my mother been an ordinary woman she would have stayed mad and spent the whole four hour hike telling me off. Or at least that's what I'd have done in her place. But mum had the patience of an angle and God knows she needed it raising me, the kid who dismantled and reassembled every object in the house at least once before the age of ten.'

'But she instead told me these amazing stories the whole walk, stories of space and aliens and saving earth and the universe. I thought she was amazing, making up these incredible tales. Later however, I found out she'd just recounted all five "Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy" books.' A laughter erupted from the congregation, and he let a genuine smile form on his lips as he remembered watching the film when it came out a few years later. 'Turns out most of my mum's "original" stories were just famous books I'd yet to read, but her memory of them was impeccable.' Another laugh rang out as the few people who were present remembered her fondly.

He continued telling them tales from his childhood, where he'd got them into a situation and his mother had been superwoman and sorted it out. They were happy stories, from the times in between the two tragedies, his father's death and his mother's diagnosis. The rest of the funeral continued in a wave of emotions and it wasn't until they stood up to leave that he realised he was clutching Jemma's hand.

'Well done Leopold. Your eulogy was beautiful.' His lifelong neighbour said to him after the coffin had been lowered. He simply nodded his head and reached down for Jemma's hand, once again needing her comfort. After a short conversation with his neighbour, he led Jemma over to a bench out of site from everyone. He'd held it together so far, but he needed to grieve and she was the only person he felt comfortable doing so with. She enveloped him in a hug and let him cry on her shoulder until he was done.

'I'm sorry.' He mumbled as he wiped the remainder of his tears.

'Shhh, you don't have anything to apologise for.' Jemma soothed, drawing circles on his hand with her thumb. 'You are the bravest person I've ever met.'

'Really?'

'Really.'

'Thank you.' He mumbled as he pulled her back into an embrace. 'I don't know what to do anymore, I feel like I'm just aimlessly bobbing around an empty ocean. At least I had this to plan, focus my energy on, but now she's really gone. I don't know who I am anymore.'

Jemma pulled back and brought his face level with hers. 'You are the amazing Leo Fitz, you are kind, funny, brave and incredibly smart, and sometimes a little crabby.' She said with a fond smile. 'You are going to do amazing things, and you're going to make her proud and you're going to make me proud.'

He smiled at her and she smile right back. His eye roamed, taking her all in. Her long brown hair, curled to perfection and kept at bay behind her ears, her simple, but effective makeup that complemented all her features and finally her simple black dress with a layer of black lace over it that fitted her to perfection. It was modest whilst accentuating all the right areas, complemented with a simple pair of black high heels. All her amazingness packed into an equally amazing package, and the fact that she chose to spend any time at all with him was still just as surprising as it had always been.

A strong gust of wind blew over them, reminding them that they were in fact outside in Scotland. It rustled the leaves of the tree that hung above the bench and weaved its way over their skin, causing the skin on Jemma's arms to come up in Goosebumps. The wind had also blown her hair into her face, covering her beautiful brown eyes. He lifted his right hand and pushed the hair back behind her ear. Once his hand was finished he had to force himself to remove it from resting on her face, cupping her cheek, like it so desperately wanted. He felt an inexplicable urge to be nearer her, it was like a magnet pulling their faces closer to each other. He looked from her lips to her eyes, and she seemed to be doing the same, eyes resting on his lips before locking eye contact with him once again. His slight movement forward was all the permission she needed to slowing bring her lips towards his. They were mere millimetres away when he heard his name being carried out over the wind, pulling them apart in an instant and bringing them back to reality.

'Leo!'

'Yes?' He responded to the familiar voice of his mother's best friend.

'Oh there you are, come on in, you'll catch your deaths out here. I wanted to ask you if you wanted a copy of any of our old photos. I think I have the only copies so I thought you might want to at least have a look at them.' And like that their moment was over, he was whisked back into the present. His mother would have had conflicting feelings about his almost kiss with Jemma. On the one hand she'd have been thrilled, on the other, she'd have been mad, because her funeral was not an appropriate place for a first kiss. "At least take the girl out on a date, come on Leopold, I thought I raised you better than this?" He could almost hear her scolding him on his lack of chivalry.

The rest of the day drew on, after everyone had left the funeral the three of them had gone back to the bungalow. It was a slow job of sorting through all his mother's belongings and deciding what to do with them, but it was an important one. When they gave up after a couple of hours he was grateful for the distraction of maths and studying. He could lose himself in his formulas, allowing his mind just to focus on the problem at hand. Problems far easier to solve than any of the real ones he was facing in his life.

At some point the study session had morphed into a pizza party and he found a new distraction in the girl's irrelevant babble, he found himself drawn in by the familiarity of it. It was almost enough to take his mind off of the clear absents of the one person who truly belonged in the house, almost. But there was a niggling thought in the back of his mind, right up until they called it a night, the girls sleeping in his mother's room and he in his old bed. Right up until he let unconsciousness prevail over his exhausted mind. He couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if they had kissed? And could she possibly be interested in him too?

Thanks for reading, feedback is always appreciated :)


	21. Day 121

Sorry I didn't post last week, I've been rather unwell so this kind of got forgotten. Here's a nice long chapter though to make up for it. There might not be another chapter next weekend either as I have mock's coming up at college so I won't promise anything.

Day 121

In the three days since the trio's return on Sunday they had had radio silence from Fitz. They had offered him the futon for a few nights, but he had politely declined saying that he just wanted to get back to normal. They'd called him each day to be met with his voicemail and they'd sent him a flurry of texts each day asking him how he was. If it wasn't for Mack's daily updates on his well-being they would have thought he had disappeared off the face of the planet. So far, they had respected his wishes of being alone, but it was putting both girls on edge.

Skye was pacing round their living room whilst Jemma sat in the armchair trying to read her textbook. 'All I'm saying is, it's been three days, we let him have his "alone time", now we need to go drag his ass out of seclusion.' Skye argued.

'And all I'm saying is that it's only been three days and he has lots of work to catch up on and everyone deals with grief differently. If he's still not responding by the end of the week then fine, but I think we need to give him more time.'

'You can't honestly think it's healthy for him to shut himself away like this? And since when did Fitz need to worry about catching up on his work, he's been ready for these exams since September?' Skye countered. 'Look, you can stay here, but I need to at least try talk to him. I miss him and I want to help him.'

'Do you think I don't? I just don't want to make things worse for him. He called me after it happened which suggests he's not worried about reaching out to us. Therefore, I think he genuinely just needs some time alone to process things.' Jemma answered Skye's unspoken question.

'Fine.' Skye said as she grabbed her pair of Converse's and yanked them on. 'I'm going to see him and we'll see who's right.' Skye said as she marched out the door, determined to not leave her friend alone any longer whilst he was grieving. Whether he wanted to be alone or not she was sure he'd change his mind after actually spending some time with them.

As Skye got off the bus and walked up the road to Fitz's house she ran through different scenarios on how best to greet her friend. She was still undecided when she reached the front door and found her hand rising to push the doorbell. She waited at the door in silence until she was met by Mack's looming figure. 'You shouldn't be here, he's not ready for it.'

'Well I need to try.'

'By all means, just don't go making things worse. I want him to feel better as soon as possible too, I hate seeing him like this, but I think he needs to pull himself out first and he hasn't yet.' Mack's voice of reason told her. Skye nodded before entering the premise as he welcomed her in. Skye walked down the corridor to his room and knocked on the door.

'What is it Mack?' Fitz's irritated voice came through the door.

'Not Mack.' Skye said as she opened the door.

'I thought I said I wanted to be alone for a while?' Fitz said looking up from his desk. Skye took in his dishevelled appearance, there were big bags under his eyes and he hadn't shaved in a few days, he had a light layer of fluff covering his jaw. He looked like he'd lost a bit of weight and his shirt looked to be a few days old by the number of wrinkles on it, he looked like an exhausted mess.

'You did, but you're a mess and I'm here to clean you up. Have you showered since Sunday?' A guilty expression covered his face before Skye marched over to him and dragged him towards the bathroom down the corridor. 'Shower, shave and get into some fresh clothes when you're done. I'll give your room a tidy and whilst you're in here then I'll go get you some food whilst you change.' Skye told him firmly before marching back to his room.

* * *

Fitz entered the kitchen in a fresh outfit. He stroked his freshly shaven chin, glad that the stubble was no longer present. Skye handed him a plate of scrambled eggs and toast and he silently accepted it. 'You really need to be taking better care of yourself Fitz.' Skye said as she sat down opposite him at the table. He simply mumbled in agreement before digging into his meal. It was the first proper meal he'd had since his return and he hadn't realised how hungry he was until the smell reached his nose. 'How's catching up on your work going?'

'Fine.' Fitz said, still not in the mood for conversation. He'd forced himself through his time in Scotland and now he needed to process everything and that meant being alone.

'Ok… and how are you?' Fitz glared at her. 'Right stupid question. Well we really miss you. We wish you'd come hang out for a little while.'

'And I miss my mum and wish she was still here, but we don't always get what we want in life.' Fitz barked. A look of hurt crossed Skye's face before she schooled her features.

'I didn't mean it like that Fitz and you know it. Don't lash out at me when I'm here trying to help you.'

'I never asked for your help.' Fitz replied flatly.

'Well you don't need to, that's what friends do. Jemma and I are worried and we want to help you. You don't have to go through this alone Fitz.' Skye told him softly.

Fitz took a deep breath to calm his anger, he knew he wasn't really angry with her and didn't want to say something he'd regret later. 'I just need to process everything, and I do that best when I'm alone. I'm not meaning to cut you out I just need to be alone for a while.' Fitz said as question popped into his head. 'Why isn't Jemma here?'

'She thinks we should give you some more time alone and she said she thought a week was a good amount of alone time and then she thinks you should get back out into the world.' Skye told him.

'So it's not because of… good.' Fitz mumbled as he let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. She wasn't distancing herself from him because of their almost kiss at his mother's funeral.

'Because of what?' Skye said with a raised eyebrow.

His eyes widened slightly at his slip up. 'Ummm… nothing.' Skye's eyebrow stayed raised and he knew he'd have to give her a little more to shut her up. 'Jemma and I had a… I don't know… a moment? I guess that's what you would call it. But yeah we had a moment at mum's funeral and I wasn't sure if she was avoiding me because of it.' Fitz said as he stumbled nervously over his words.

'A moment? Like a romantic moment?' Skye said, already buzzing with excitement.

'I guess…'

'Like a kiss or..?'

'Almost.' Fitz felt the blush travel across his face as Skye squealed in excitement.

'Why the hell did that girl not tell me? I'm going to kick her ass! Come on details? You can't leave me hanging!' Skye squeaked.

'Shhh.' Fitz hushed her as he checked that no one else had heard. 'And no, don't talk to her about it, we haven't even talked about it. And there's not much to say other than we were interrupted just before. I don't even know what she was thinking, maybe she just felt bad for me, I don't know. Either way now is not a good time for me to be thinking about anything like that. I just need to deal with my mum first.'

'Just felt bad for you? Are you crazy? Ugh, why are you both so blind? Must I do everything for you two?' Skye rambled on before abruptly closing her mouth. As if she didn't want to say too much. Fitz raised an eyebrow at her, but she ignored his questioning look. 'Anyway I think you're right, now probably isn't the best time for anything like that, you need to heal. But when you're ready, like you're not going to find a better person than Jemma, so make your feelings known. I'll try not to say too much, but I am so hyped for you guys. Just don't third wheel me too much ok?'

'I think you need to calm down a bit about this. I don't even know what I think yet.' Fitz quickly said, trying to assess the damage control needed on the situation.

'Aw you are no fun.' Skye pouted.

'Wouldn't work anyway…' Fitz mumbled under his breath.

'And why's that?'

'You know why.' Fitz said, his face flushing with heat. He looked shyly up at her, hoping he wouldn't have to elaborate.

'I think you'd be surprised, if that's what you're worried about.' Skye said softly, reaching a hand out to cover his. 'I think if you truly love someone then that's something you can live without. Sure it's really, really, really nice, but there are lots of other great things in a relationship. And other ways of dealing with such urges by one's self.' Skye finished with a wink and withdrew her hand. 'Obviouly I can't answer for her, but don't let that put you off pursuing this.'

Fitz felt the heat in his cheeks once more and returned his gaze to his meal. 'Maybe…'

'Worth a conversation.'

'Maybe.' Fitz murmured. 'Not now though. I need to get to grips with mum.' He mentally scolded himself for getting distracted, momentarily forgetting about the situation. Now was not the time for romance, now was the time to remember his mum and grieve her. Fitz sighed and got back to the task at hand, eating his dinner. 'Huh… we're both orphans now… that's a little weird…'

Skye gave him a quizzical look, but otherwise seemed to accept the change of topic. 'Yeah I guess it is. Two out of three…'

'Makes us outliers when you look at it like that.'

'I didn't come here for science talk Leopold.' Skye chided with a grin.

Fitz gave her a challenging look before responding. 'That was barely science. If wanted to talk science I'd talk to you about how some guy brought in a car that he'd put the wrong fuel in. He'd started the ignition too, so the fuels all mixed which means tha-'

'Alright! Point proven.' Skye sulked. 'How much do you and Mack make anyway, fixing up cars?'

'Not loads, we aren't qualified or anything, but we're cheap for students and they know we'll do a bloody good job so they bring them in. I'd do it for free so the moneys nice. But most of my cash comes from stats and finance work. Just put in data and blah blah blah, it's most tedious, but the student union pays me well because I'm fast.'

'Nice. Sounds better than PC world. God I hate retail. But better than poor Jemma, accepting that hotel gig was a big mistake.'

'But she won't quit.' Fitz added with a found smile. 'Well, I'm glad she was there the night I went in. Otherwise, I'd be in a much worse state now.' Fitz said growing sombre, he looked down at his now empty plate and took it to the sink. 'I think I need to get back to work now. But thanks for checking up on me, I needed someone to make me eat. Maybe we can all go out this weekend? But till then, will you give me some more time alone if I promise to look after myself?' Fitz asked, hoping Skye would give him what he wanted.

Skye's eyes narrowed and she opened and closed her mouth twice before answering. 'Fine, but you have to see us this weekend and if you look this awful.' Skye motioned to his entire appearance. 'Then you will be getting your ass kicked. No way your mum would be ok with you looking like a hobo.'

'Yeah ok, deal, I promise. And I'm a little offended that you still think i look that bad post clean up. Also, we don't say "hobo" in this country.' He teased. 'Honestly, if you're going to live here…' He muttered light heartedly.

'Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever Leopold.' Skye smirked when he scowled at her. She was pushing her luck using his full name twice already. She scooped him up in a hug and ruffled his hair, making him scowl in mock annoyance even more. 'Alright, I'll leave the hair playing for Jemma.' Skye teased and immediately legged it out the door, predicting his response.

'Skye!' He yelled, chasing her down the hallway. 'Just leave it ok, I'm still working through things.' He reasoned when he caught her and pined her to the wall. He was faintly aware of one of his housemates wolf whistling and quickly let her go. 'Fine.' She moaned as she rolled her eyes. 'I'll save all my jokes for when you're actually dating.' And with a final smirk she was out the door, running out of his reach. She slowed to wave at him with a giant grin and then continued off in the direction of the bus stop. Fitz let out a deep breath of air and trudged back to his room to mull over his talk with Skye.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, feedback is always appreciated :)

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, feedback is always appreciated :)


	22. Day 125

Sorry this has taken a while to go up, multiple reasons for the delay but I'm putting up two chapters to make up for it :)

Day 125

As promised, Fitz went out to the café with the girls that weekend. Despite Skye and Jemma's hesitancy about revisiting the place where Fitz had received bad news about his mum twice, Fitz himself seemed to find it a non-issue. Despite Skye telling him to look after himself he had let his scruff grow back and still looked thin, although Skye assured Jemma he looked better than he had on Wednesday. This however, was little comfort to her, no matter how attractive he looked with his new facial hair. It was decidedly less attractive when she remembered the reason for his lack of personal grooming. He had a black hoodie and wrinkled jeans, but from the description Skye had given her, she decided that this was progress.

'So how's my favourite engineer doing?' Skye coaxed when they were all settled with their drinks.

Fitz looked up from his tea and gave her a blank stare before answering. It was clear that he felt the question was entirely unnecessary. 'Better than before.' He mumbled before taking a sip of his drink.

'Good, good… So… Jemma and I have been prepping for exams… how's that going with you? Because a certain someone…' Skye glared at Jemma, 'has been making me write out revision timetables and like work to a schedule, which I am not comfortable with.' Skye said with feigned anger.

'Alright I guess. I should be fine, despite the time I missed.' Fitz answered in monotone.

'I only make you use a timetable because otherwise you don't do any work.' Jemma defended, not wanting Fitz to think she was controlling, simply a concerned friend.

'Excuse you, I'm always working on my programming!' Skye said in too high a pitch.

'Yeah, but it's never relevant to your exams.' Jemma countered, catching a slight snicker from Fitz as they squabbled.

'Well I don't need to, I'll do fine in them.'

'This is Uni, you can't just wing it. I know all my content, but you don't see me slacking off.'

'That's because you love homework more than life itself.' Fitz joined in, receiving a glare from Jemma. Skye just grinned in triumph.

'I thought you were on my side here?'

'I am. Just stating a fact.'

Skye let out a giggle as Jemma rolled her eyes. 'I don't just study, I do have a life may I remind you.' Jemma said, feeling she needed to defend herself.

'I never said there was anything wrong with it, I admire your tenacity if anything.' Fitz added softly. The way he looked at her sent shivers down her spine, his eyes soft and so full of pain, yet a hint of joy in them. Joy that she hoped was a result of her company. And Skye's of course. Before she allowed herself to become lost in his deep blue eyes, she shot Skye a smug smile and then distracted herself with her tea.

'Nerds.' Skye whispered, giving them both an innocent look when they scowled at her.

The conversation continued, light banter and mockery throughout. Skye and Jemma seemed to fall into a competition of who could make him laugh the most. It was never the big open mouthed laugh that he gave when he was filled with joy, but it was a nice change to see light in his eyes instead of the pain. Jemma loved watching him laugh. Loved the way his eyes squinted and his whole face just lit up. However, for now the small chuckle here and there would have to be enough. Ever since their almost kiss at his mother's funeral she'd had a hard time not getting mesmerised by his lips. The week apart had helped her forget, but now it was like a part of her was making up for all the lost time and taking them in as much as possible.

After Skye had come home from her visit on Wednesday, Jemma had been given a long stare down which made Jemma feel rather uncomfortable. When she confronted her about it Skye simply shrugged it off. Had he told her about his mother's funeral? She couldn't figure out what else it could have been about, but then this was Skye, you never really knew what she was scheming about in that funny old brain of hers. Jemma once again found herself remembering the moment that was so close to being their first kiss.

'Jemma? Earth to Jemma?' Skye's hand flailing about in front of her face brought her away from her memories.

'Yeah, sorry…'

'You're a million miles away.' Skye stated.

'Yeah, sorry, you've got my full focus again now.'

'Yeah well I was just saying that I need to go, Eric just texted and he needs my help with preparing for our exam this week.' Jemma swore she could see a sly smirk appear on her face for half a second. 'So bye.' Skye said, most definitely giving Fitz a pointed look. Something had definitely happened on Wednesday. Fitz and Jemma said their goodbyes to Skye and then both took an awkward sip of their teas. It was clear that Fitz was just as aware as she was that this was the first time they'd been alone since their almost kiss.

'So… how're you holding up?' Jemma asked, she knew it was risky asking, but she also knew that if anyone was going to get him to open up properly it was her. Fitz gave her a look that made her think he was going to brush her off, but then his face softened and he took a deep breath in.

'I'm not doing great, I just feel like I shoulda been up there the whole time, ya know? Like… I missed all this time with her and now… and now there's nothing I can do.' His eyes looked darker than usual and they appeared to be tearing up. He let out a sign and wiped his eye while looking about the room.

'Do you want to go for a walk?' Jemma asked, realising this wasn't the best setting for this conversation. Fitz nodded and quickly finished off his drink.

* * *

They had walked and talked for a few hours until he needed to stop. Letting everything out was too much and he quickly found a tree to sit under. Jemma promptly joined him and took his hand, sending a warm sensation through him. 'It's just not fair you know? Some people get to live long lives as horrible people, spreading hate and then some people do nothing but good and die young. It's not fair.' He choked out after a few moments of silence. He lifted his head so he could see her, instead of his worn trainers. She was biting her lip and looked as if she wanted to have all the answers, but was coming up blank.

'I know, it's not fair at all.' Was all she said. Her hazel eyes glimmered slightly and he wondered if he was upsetting her.

'I used to ask mum, what death's like. She always said that I shouldn't be afraid because it's just like the way life was before you were born. Which wasn't that bad was it?' Fitz recounted quietly.

'That's sweet.' She looked as if she was going to add something to it, and then appeared to change her mind. After a pause she spoke up again, although Fitz was sure this was different to what she had originally planned to say. 'I like to think about the first law of thermodynamics. That no energy in the universe is created and -'

'And none is destroyed.' Fitz finished with her.

'That means that every bit of energy inside us, every particle, will go on to be a part of something else, maybe live as a dragonfish, a microbe, maybe burn in a supernova. And every part of us now was once a part of some other thing, a moon, a storm cloud, a mammoth.' Whilst she was talking he was hit smack in the face with a revelation. He'd spent the last nine days trying to figure it all out, what she meant to him and what that meant for them. And now he realised it, it was so clear, he couldn't understand why he hadn't realised from day one.

'A monkey.'

'A monkey.' Jemma said with a soft smile. 'Thousands and thousands of other beautiful things that were just as terrified to die as we all are.'

Fitz took a deep breath, he needed all the courage he had to say the next few words. 'Jemma?'

'Yes Fitz?' She leaned in slightly closer, in subconscious anticipation most likely, but it just made what he had to say next even harder.

'I… Thank you.' _Don't chicken out you coward._ 'And I just wanted to tell you that… I… well you mean a lot to me, and I'm grateful for everything you've done for me…' _Come on just say it. I love you. Just say it._ 'I...'

Jemma looked at him patiently, waiting for him to spit it out. He looked into her eyes, then quickly darted to her lips, and back to her eyes. With one final look to her lips he took a deep breath and leaned in, closing the gap between their lips. In his nervousness he had launched at her with slightly too much force and the kiss was stronger than he'd anticipated. It was fierce and brief. Despite Jemma's near instant response his nerves got the better of him, causing him to retreat almost immediately.

He took in several deep breaths, mentally preparing himself for being yelled at. To his surprise Jemma simply shuffled closer and wrapped her hands around the back of his neck to pull him in for a second kiss. This kiss was slow and sincere. She gently pulled on his lower lip and glided her mouth against his. Their mouths fit together perfectly and he couldn't help but feel like maybe he hadn't just made the worst decision of his life, but instead the best. Before he knew it, the kiss was over and their foreheads were pressed against each other's. He revelled in the sound of her breathless breathing and a smile crossed his face. 'That was ok then?' He asked her nervously. She nodded and let out a small laugh, forehead still against his and then pulled him in for a third kiss.

'That was more than ok, that was amazing.' Jemma breathed heavily.

'Really?' Fitz said, feeling the massive grin spread across his face.

Jemma let out a wonderful laugh that could have been a melody all on its own. 'Of course you idiot.'

He let out a puff of air that was halfway to a chuckle. 'Good. Because I was terrified I'd made a real hash of things.'

'Never.'

* * *

Skye heard the door open and sat straight up in her chair. 'Where have you been? I figured you'd be an hour or two at most, but it's been four?'

'Fitz and I kissed!' Jemma announced as she proudly plopped down onto the futon.

'What?' Skye screamed. _Best day ever!_

'Yup.' Jemma answered, deliberately not spilling the details.

'Well come on, I'm dying here!' Skye said as she joined Jemma on the sofa. Both girls were sat cross legged, facing each other. Skye was practically buzzing with excitement and Jemma was positively glowing.

'Well…' Jemma drew out. 'We went to the park and he got everything off his chest and then we got talking about what death was like.' Skye looked at her with raised eyebrows, how had a discussion about death lead to a kiss? 'And then he started to thank me for supporting him and everything. And he got real nervous and I wondered what was coming and he was spluttering over his words. I think he had intended to tell me, but he just got too nervous. So he kissed me, it was really short though because he was still stupidly nervous so I kissed him back. Twice. And they were honestly the best kisses ever.' Skye was briefly brought back to the sloppy drunken kisses she and Fitz had shared, he had been awful at the start. She almost made a joke about how Jemma should be grateful for Skye having taught him what to do, but stopped herself. That was the perfect way to ruin everything.

'So what happened next? Are you going on a date? Are you guy's boyfriend and girlfriend?'

'Well Mack called before we got to talking about it properly, saying he needed Fitz's help in the garage, an emergency. So we said goodbye and kinda left it like that.' Skye hit Jemma's thighs in frustration. 'Ow, what was that for?'

'You idiots! You're going to end up just being stupid awkward children who take months to pluck up the courage to talk about it and I'm going to be sitting here drowning in the unresolved tension!' Skye was careful not to say sexual tension as she didn't want to imply anything that Fitz wouldn't be able to give, it was quite clear that they hadn't got round to discussing that. 'You need to go see him tomorrow and sort it out before it gets too long and you don't deal with it.' Skye told her firmly, tying not to yell at her. She was adamant that she was not going to let this fail, they would not just kiss and never discuss it, they were going to get their shit together and work things out.

'We would totally not be like that!' Skye gave her a hard stare. 'Alright… maybe we would… I'll go see him tomorrow evening if I don't see him round campus.'

Skye gave her a massive grin. 'Good. Oh and don't you dare make me an awkward third wheeler. I've been plotting this since the Sherlock marathon.'

'God, that was ages ago.'

'Precisely!'

'Alright, we'll try our best not to make you feel left out. But we aren't even a "we" yet so this is all a bit premature.'

'You've always been a "we" you moron.' Skye said affectionately.

Jemma scowled at her before letting her smile slip through. 'Alright, but you need to speak up if we become one of those gross couples that no one can stand to be around.'

'What are you talking about? You already are. You're too annoying with all your stupid science talk. I'm the only one who can put up with you two.' Skye said with a laugh. Jemma gave her a stern look, telling her to be serious, just for once. 'Fine, yes of course I will, I'm not going to shut up. Also, I'm going to be taking a lot of photos to add to my collection for your wedding.'

'Your what now? Your collection? Add? How many photos of us do you have?'

'Huh? Oh nothing.' Skye said with a mischievous grin before taking off and running to her room.

'SKYE!' She heard Jemma yell through her door. Skye's smile was covering her face and she let out a laugh.

'Nothing you need to worry about just yet.' Nope it would be her mother's reaction to all the photos of them she already had curled up on the sofa fast asleep that she needed to worry about. And there were still years left for her collection to grow. Skye chuckled to herself, Mrs Simmons was going to be so uncomfortable. And Skye would revel in it.

Thanks for reading, i hope you enjoyed, comments are always appreciated :)


	23. Day 126

Day 126

Jemma found Fitz tinkering in his garage. He was wearing worn jeans and a dirty grey t-shirt, with earphones poking out the back and blasting music in his ears. His hands were deftly working on an engine that had been removed from the car, and even from where she was she could see the flexing of his arms. He wasn't exactly well built, but his arms were strong from his time spent building and fixing machinery, his rough figures were another sign of his handiwork. Jemma had to shake her head to clear her mind and focus on the task at hand, getting distracted by Fitz's hands was not helpful. He lifted his head as she approached the open garage and he let out an awkward smile.

'Hi Fitz.' She said as he pulled out his earphones, letting the cord hang out of the neck of his shirt and dangle between his shoulder blades. He gave her a quick wave and then gestured for her to come into the room. As she drew closer she noticed the grime on his face, half of her wanted to clean it off, but the other half, the winning half, found it even more attractive. 'I thought we should talk… about yesterday… seeing as you had to leave before we could.' She opened, knowing that if they didn't get straight to it, she'd chicken out and she somehow doubted that he would bring it up.

'Right… yes… that's probably a good idea.' Fitz said twisting his hands before wiping them down on his trousers, causing Jemma to grimace. 'They're just my shop trousers.' He laughed, noticing her disapproval, he did however stop and grab a rag, which Jemma swore was equally dirty, and wipe them on that instead. He then motioned to the car he was working on and opened the door to the back seats and waited until she was seated before joining her. 'How is this supposed to go?' He asked her, scratching the back of his neck.

'I don't really know… I guess we say what the kiss meant to each of us.' She waited to see if he would start and took his silence as the go ahead for her to begin. 'Right well, I enjoyed it…' Fitz let a nervous smiled break out before looking down at his fidgeting hands. 'And I'd like to do it some more. Because you're special to me Fitz and… I think that although it's scary, changing the dynamic's like this… that… well I still think it's a good idea.' She breathed in a nervous breath, waiting for his response.

'Really? You really think it's worth it? I thought you were going to say it was a mistake.'

'Do you think it was a mistake?' Jemma asked quickly, suddenly more nervous.

'What? No! Never, no no no. Not at all.' Fitz spluttered in shock.

'Good.' Jemma smiled. Letting the hope that she'd tried to quell all day, grow and warm her.

'I liked it a lot as well. And really, the only way to find out for sure if was as good as we think it is, is to get more data.'

'Are you trying to flirt with me by talking about our kiss as if it was an experiment?' Jemma laughed, revelling in the sight of Fitz with his mouth ajar and lost for words. 'Because I'm ashamed to say that it worked.' She grinned as Fitz let out a breath and momentarily relaxed.

'So… are we like dating now or…' Fitz trailed off, his hands still fidgeting nervously in his lap.

'I think you have to have gone on a date to be dating Fitz…'

'Oh… right…' Fitz said, disappointment covering his face and flooding his voice.

Jemma let out a small chuckle, causing Fitz to look at her in bewilderment. 'That was your cue.' He still looked at her with the same confusion, although some of the disappointment had left his features. 'Cue to ask me on a date.' She prompted.

'Oh right… y-you could have done that too… but yes ok…ok… w-would you like to… umm... go on a date… with me.' Fitz mumbled and stumbled over his words.

'Yes you idiot.' Jemma laughed. 'And I could have asked, but I thought you would be cute saying it and I was right.' She said with a smirk.

Fitz's eyes lit up and he grinned, as a blush covered his cheeks. Finally installed with some more confidence he leaned in to kiss her. 'How… does Friday… sound?' He asked between breaths against her lips.

Jemma let out a small moan of pleasure before answering. 'Yes… 7:30?' She asked, deepening the kiss and pushing him back against the car door. Making out in the back of a random persons car was not something she thought she would ever be doing, yet here she was. And honestly, she didn't care in the slightest.

'Mmmhhhmmm.' Fitz answered against her, whilst opening his mouth slightly and letting her brush her tongue against his lips. Eventually they both had to admit defeat with their battle against oxygen and break away from each other. 'That was… I very much enjoyed that.'

Jemma smiled at him and nodded her head. 'Me too. I think we're very good.'

'Really? Because ummm… I don't know if you noticed, but I'm rather inexperienced.' This caught Jemma off guard, because as far as she knew he'd only kissed two women in his life, Skye and herself. The pain from before came flooding back and she wanted to ask him about it, why he had done it and why Skye thought she would understand it better if she spoke to Fitz. But she also didn't want to ruin the moment. She was happy and didn't want to extinguish this new aspect of their relationship before it even started. So she breathed in deeply and let it go, putting her barriers back up, they would talk about it later. When they were settled or when Fitz himself deemed it appropriate to bring it up. Whichever came first.

'I think you're just fine at it. And I am more than willing to help you practice some more.' Jemma told him with a flirtatious grin. 'So where is it that you're taking me on Friday?'

Fitz looked like he had momentarily forgotten about their date and then looked rather terrified in realising that he would be picking the restaurant. 'Right yes… I hadn't thought that far ahead. I-I'll find some options and then run them by you. Then you can pick your favourite.' He blushed.

'Sounds good to me. So how was your day?'

'Well it got significantly better since you arrived.' Fitz told her, going bright red. Jemma let out a small laugh and then rested her head on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her. He then proceeded to tell her about his exam and how well it had gone. Followed by a particularly unpleasant conversation with Grant Ward. Jemma had never much liked Grant before learning what a truly horrible person he was from Fitz, but now he just made her blood boil. Fitz had found him snooping about his room in search of who knows what and then blamed Fitz, calling him every foul name under the sun. When Fitz had then tried to stand up for himself he'd simply ended up with a fist to his gut. Why he was still allowed to live in the house was beyond her. She took the moment to give him a few more soft kisses, trying to fix his pain.

He then told her about his conversation with the estate agents selling his mother's bungalow. Several people had viewed it, but so far no one had put in an offer and he was told that if that pattern continued he might want to put the price down, which really wasn't the news he had been hoping for. However, as Jemma told him, it was still early days and no need to worry about it just yet.

She then told him about her day, which had mostly been preparing for her exam tomorrow. She had, however, had a very unpleasant conversation with her father about his expectations of her in her upcoming exams. Which lead on to Jemma asking if he'd come with her to her mother's birthday party next month.

'Will your parents like me?' Fitz asked nervously.

'Well that depends on how I introduce you. If I just say you're my friend, then probably yes. They like you so far, with what I've told them on the phone. However seeing as no one is good enough for me, according to dad anyway, then if I say that we're… that you're… well that you're more than that, then probably not.' Jemma admitted. 'But only because they want me with Prince Charming. It won't be personal.'

'Sure sounds personal.' Fitz huffed.

'Please come, it will be fun, if nothing else but to see my mother and Skye interact. And I promise we'll figure out a way to make them like you. Please?' Jemma almost begged. 'And there'll be a free bar.'

Fitz sighed. 'Alright then, but I will embarrass myself, and you by extension, like a million times. I'm not good in formal settings.'

'You'll be fine. And we don't have to talk to people, that'll be why you and Skye are there in fact. To make sure that I don't have to talk to people.' Jemma smiled, turning her head to give him a kiss on the side of his lips. It was only brief but it still filled her with butterflies and she buried her head back into his shoulder to calm her excitement. 'It will be fun I promise.'

'Well there's free alcohol so you can't go too wrong I guess.' Fitz chuckled, Jemma could feel the vibrations against her side and she snuggled in closer.

'Getting drunk in front of my parents is not advisable, no matter what damage control I do, there will be no coming back from that one.' Jemma chided.

'Duly noted.' Fitz said as he rested his head against hers and breathed in.

'Are you smelling my hair?' Jemma teased, turning her head to face him. He went bright red and shock his head rapidly.

'I just… I… I-I thought that… since… I thought…' The effect of her words was far greater than she had anticipated, and she was surprised by how quickly his nervousness had returned.

'Fitz? I was joking, it's fine.' She smiled softly, trying to get him to believe her and calm down.

'Right yes… I knew that…' He blushed.

'Of course you did.' Jemma nestled back into his side and closed her eyes, letting herself relax. This was the most at ease she had felt in a long time. His natural smell mixed with the oil and grease from the garage left her feeling warm and fuzzy. The buzz from his headphones became more distinct as a pleasant silence settled and she hummed along to the Fall Out Boy song, which name escaped her memory. Despite the cars less than comfortable seating Jemma felt herself drifting off to sleep, in the arms of the man she loved.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed, comments are always appreciated :)


	24. Day 130

It's their date!

Not gonna lie, I stole Jemma's outfit from a dress Elisabeth wore to the New York upfronts, I'm not exactly into fashion myself but I wanted her to look good so I just scoured through a tone of pictures and picked one that I thought would be reasonable for a date. And then I happened across a site that described her outfit and hair and makeup and used that as a reference. So if you want to see what the hell I was trying to describe just search Elizabeth Henstridge at the New York upfronts. Describing men's outfits is soooo much easier, like seriously.

Day 130

Fitz stood nervously in his room looking at a selection of shirts that were lying on his bed. He had decided to go with his jeans and grey blazer and was now trying to decide which of his shirts to wear. Most of them were flannel, which Mack had advised him against, and so he was left with selection of blue shirts, a grey shirt and a white one. After trying them all on at least once, he decided to go with the white shirt. Next up, ties. He brought out the coat hanger on which all his ties were strung across and ran over to Mack's room.

'Mack.' Knock knock knock. 'Mack.' Knock knock knock. 'Mack!' Knock knock knock. 'Mac-'

'Jeez, turbo, calm down, I'm here.' Mack said as the door fell away from his knuckles.

'Right yes, sorry. Which one?' He presented Mack with his selection and tried to calm his nerves, he was practically vibrating with anticipation.

'Nah, I think you're fine without, you look good. Just sort your hair out.' Mack said with a smile and practically pushed Fitz into the bathroom. After sorting out the mess of curls that was his hair, he once again went to Mack seeking approval. Once he was given the all clear he scuttled back into his room, determined not to bump into Grant tonight, he was not going to let him ruin his mood.

Despite his excitement he couldn't help but worry about how he would tell Jemma about his night with Skye and his asexuality. He didn't want to ruin things just as they were beginning. In a moment of selfishness he decided that he would just let tonight be. They could enjoy their first date without him bringing up dangerous topics. He would tell her when it felt right. And tonight was about having fun and exploring a new aspect of their relationship. He recognised that starting something with Jemma without telling her was dangerous and not fair on her, but he couldn't help it, he was too scared of losing everything.

* * *

'Skye!' Jemma shouted from the bathroom. 'I need an extra pair of hands!' Skye came in a few seconds later to help her with her updo. She'd managed to curl and spray her hair, but was having trouble turning her mid ponytail into a free formed bun. Skye instantly helped her twist and tuck sections of her hair until it was perfect and gave her one final spray of hairspray.

With her makeup complete, which was heavier than normal, but still natural looking with light smoky eyes, and pink cheeks along with some subtle red lipstick. Her dress was one Skye had chosen, the top half was made of white leather cutouts while the skirt had black leather panels sown together horizontally, each strip forming a layered effect.

'You look beautiful Jemma. Fitz isn't going to know what to do with himself.' Skye chuckled. 'And just in time too.' Skye said as she heard a knock on the door.

'I just need to grab my handbag and a cardigan. Tell him I won't be a minute.' Jemma said as she walked across the room to her bedroom. She could hear Skye's laughter and Fitz's nervous chuckle as she picked up her final things. When she emerged Fitz was awkwardly stood in the living room as Skye took her phone out.

Fitz turned around as he heard Jemma approach and Skye started to take pictures on her phone. Fitz's mouth was open and the look of awe made Jemma flush. However, she couldn't enjoy the moment as her nosey roommate was still stood opposite them, flashing away with her camera. 'Skye!' Jemma whined.

'Just a few more, just stand next to each other, I just want a few more pictures. Please?' Skye begged. Both of them seemingly deciding it wasn't worth fighting Skye stood next to each other and posed for Skye. Fitz wrapped his arm around her waist lightly and Jemma tucked into his side. They let her take a couple more pictures before leaving as quickly as possible.

They arrived at the restaurant and were taken to the table that Fitz had reserved for them. They were sat by the wall, it was cosy and tucked out the way. She was fairly certain Fitz had requested it to help keep his nerves down. Lots of people being around always put him on edge and it would be an unwanted addition to his already jittery state of mind.

'You umm… you look good by the way…' Fitz told her nervously. 'I would have said earlier, but Skye was there and then the bus was full, but I want you to know that you look beautiful.' He rambled.

Jemma smiled. She was well aware that she looked good at the moment, but the compliment still sent shivers of excitement down her spine. 'Thank you Fitz. You look very handsome yourself.'

Fitz blushed and looked down at his lap. 'I think you're the first person outside of my mother and her friends to ever say that to me.' He told her with a shy smile.

'Well it's true, you always look handsome.' Jemma smiled at him before picking up her menu.

As they discussed food and drink options Jemma felt some of her nerves slip away, things seemed to be going well and they hadn't run out of things to talk about yet, which was an improvement on the dream she'd had the night before. As the evening carried on the conversation drifted from exams, to family, to work, and most predominantly science. They bickered and argued and debated and discussed. They enthused about the latest discoveries and Jemma couldn't help but watch the way his eyes lit up and he smiled his big goofy grin.

It was by far the most interested she had ever been on a date. Usually she kept herself going by focusing on their low body fat percentage and nice, symmetrical face, but tonight she was far too captivated by what he was saying to spend the whole evening mentally undressing her date. Not to say that she wasn't interested in him that way, more that she was interested in all of him. For the first time ever she was on a date with someone that could keep up with her, and it was more than refreshing. It reminded her of a Doctor Who quote, when Amy said "You know when sometimes you meet someone so beautiful — and then you actually talk to them and five minutes later they're as dull as a brick; but then there's other people. And you meet them and you think, "Not bad, they're okay," and when you get to know them ... their face just, sort of, becomes them, like their personality's written all over it, and they just — they turn into something so beautiful." Yes, it was exactly like that.

As the evening drew to a close they found themselves wondering about a park, hand in hand, walking in a comfortable silence. Despite the amazingness that had been their first official date there was still something worrying Jemma, eating away at her, and she couldn't keep it to herself any longer.

'Fitz?' Jemma asked as she tugged his arm, bringing them both to a standstill.

'Yeah?'

'Can I ask you something?' Fitz seemed to pick up on the gravity of the situation and nodded his head nervously. Jemma took a deep breath and opened and closed her mouth several times before starting. 'Skye told me… about you sleeping together.' Fitz swallowed. 'Can I ask you why? She said I would understand if I asked you, but that she couldn't tell me. What did she mean?' She tried to keep her voice even, to not let her upset and anger seep through.

'Can we talk about this later?' Fitz said, almost begging her and letting go of her hand to run it through his hair.

'Fitz, I've kept my mouth shut for months, I haven't said anything in the last week because I was waiting for you to say something, but I can't let myself… I don't want to get hurt more than I already have and tonight is a pivotal point and I need to know. I need to know before things get serious.' Jemma said, holding back her tears. Fitz's face softened in the moonlight and he took a deep breath before answering.

'I never meant to hurt you.' He started, clearly summoning the courage to tell her more. 'I just need to get through this so please don't interrupt. Right… so…for a while now I've been feeling different, like there was something wrong with me. I wasn't like everyone else, hooking up or anything. And it wasn't just that there weren't any offers, it was more than that. I just wasn't interested. Like at all. And for years I thought I was broken, procreation is one of our most basic instincts, it should have been there, but the desire for it, well it's just not there.' Fitz reveal quietly, causing Jemma more confusion as to why he had slept with Skye.

'And that night Skye and I got to talking about it. I told her how I was confused and I didn't know at what point I stopped being interested because I'd never been in a relationship. We had both had a bit to drink and so when she… when she offered to help me figure myself out, I didn't hesitate. And being a scientist I needed to gather all the data. So although I was almost certain that sex wasn't for me, well I needed to know for sure. I needed to be 100% sure about how I feel. I even wrote everything down. It was as official is a drunk hook up can be.' He said with a light chuckle, trying to lighten the sombre mood. 'Anyway, we did it, and I knew for sure, she said that I should look up asexuality and I did. And I think that's what I am. I'd never done it before, I didn't know it was a thing, and I was too embarrassed to try to google what having zero sex drive meant. So it was an experiment. And I can see from your expression that you don't agree with it, but I needed to know and it helped. I'm more at peace with it and I feel better about myself and I'm not going to regret something that made me hate myself less.'

Jemma took a moment to take everything in. She understood more, but she was still confused about some aspects. 'Why couldn't you have waited, until you were in a relationship? Shouldn't you figure those kinds of things out with a partner, not a horny friend?' Trying to keep her anger from rising up, Jemma stopper herself from saying anymore.

'And what? Give them a taste of what they could have with a normal person and then take it away? That seems worse. And it wasn't exactly… enjoyable, I wouldn't want to share that with someone so special.'

Jemma nodded, she was starting to understand, it made sense. 'So why didn't you just tell me all this in the first place?'

'Because I'm scared. People like you and I, we don't end up together, you deserve some big alpha male who can give you everything you want. I can't do that and I'm sorry, but I was being selfish. I wanted you for as long as I could get you, before you found this out and decided I wasn't worth the sacrifice. I'm sorry. I was going to tell you, I just wanted to enjoy it whilst it lasted.' Fitz told her, looking disappointed with himself and tears forming in his own eyes.

Jemma took a moment to process all that she'd just heard. There were so many things to deal with, from his admission of hating himself to his fear of her leaving, it was all very overwhelming. And then there was the asexuality itself. Could she be in a sexless relationship? What would it be like?

She somewhat regretted having killed the mood of their date and now felt the pressure of having to make a decision. The fearful look in Fitz's eyes was making her want to cry and sending butterflies to her stomach simultaneously. There was one thing that she knew for sure and that was that Fitz was important and that she wasn't going anywhere. She needed Fitz, and he needed her. It was as simple as that, they would find a way to make it work. 'I'm going to need some time to think everything through. But, I know I don't want some alpha male, I want you Fitz. I need to figure things out, but that doesn't mean I want things to stop. I just need to get my head around everything. And we need to be honest about whether it's working and how we're feeling.' She said after she had collected her thoughts for a few minutes. He let out a breath and his shoulders relaxed as he took in what she was saying.

'Really?' The look of shock and awe in his eyes melted her heart.

'Really.'

'So, you don't hate me?'

'Why would I hate you?' Even after being so close for months, she was only now starting to realise how deep his insecurities ran.

'For lying to you and stringing you along and sleeping with your best friend.' When he listed it like that it did hurt, but not enough for her to be hate him. He had good reasons for being hesitant to tell her.

'I'm upset about those things, and I am kind of mad and hurt by it, but I understand. It's difficult to share what you've shared. I think you're brave.' She stroked her thumb across the back of his hand, which had once again been reunited with hers.

'Well that's fair. I'm not sure about the brave thing though…'

'Well tough, you are.' Jemma said with finality and started walking again, pulling him along behind her.

* * *

Skye sat bolt upright when she heard the keys turning in the door. Jumping up off her bed she ran to the door and greeted her friend excitedly. 'Sooooooo? How'd it go?' She asked practically vibrating.

'The dinner was lovely and then we went for a walk. We talked about… the ummm… the thing…' Skye nodded in understanding. The girls had reached a mutual agreement to not bring it up and referring to it as "the thing" seemed to keep things from getting heated. 'And we talked it out.'

'Aaaannnndddd?' Skye shouted, getting frustrated with Jemma's vague answers.

'And we are going to see how things go. Talk about any issues it brings up and we will be honest if it's not working. '

'So you're officially together? And we're good right?' Skye said, voice getting an octave higher than usual and far too loud for it not to have been heard by the neighbours.

'Yup, Fitz is my boyfriend. And yeah, we are.' Jemma said with a grin so wide it would look out of place on anyone other than the Cheshire Cat. Skye fist pumped the air whilst jumping up and down before giving Jemma an enormous hug. Jemma quickly joined in the excitement and the two spent the rest of the evening in hyperdrive, as Jemma relayed the rest of the evening in detail.

Hope you enjoyed, please let me know what you think, I love reading your reviews :)


	25. Day 151

Look at me actually posting when i'm supposed to! Can't promise that I'll keep it up though, but there isn't too much left to this so my hope is to get it finished before my exams start. I hope you enjoy this fluffy chapter :)

Day 151

'Jemma! Some Scottish guy's at the door asking for you!' Skye called out as she let Fitz inside. 'You ready to find out how he did it? I mean you haven't waited half as long as we had to for season three, but I think 5 months will do. And then, you can enjoy the long Sherlock hiatus in real time for season four.' Skye blabbered as Fitz ignored her, clearly waiting for Jemma to come out of her room. 'Jemma get your ass out here so that Fitz will start acknowledging my presence!'

As if on cue Jemma emerged from her room and Fitz's face became one of awe. The two met each other halfway and Fitz placed a peck on Jemma's lips. 'Hey.'

'Hey.' The two smiled at each other and Skye knew she'd been forgotten.

'Nawh, you guys are so cute.' Skye teased as she dropped down onto the armchair. 'But, that doesn't give you permission to make me a third wheel.'

'Calm down Skye we were just saying hello.' Jemma rolled her eyes as she went into the kitchen to get them each a beer. Fitz followed her to make some popcorn and Skye leaned back into the chair before grabbing the remote and getting the episode ready.

Within five minutes Jemma and Fitz were sat on the futon and Skye in the armchair with a blanket, beers and popcorn distributed, they were all ready for their post exams celebration to start. Fitz perched on the edge of the seat, waiting anxiously for Skye to press play. 'Come on. You're killing me here Skye!' Fitz whined.

'Just relax will ya.' Skye said with a slight roll of her eyes. However, as much as she wanted to toy with Fitz like a cat with its prey, she pressed play and snuggled into the back of her chair.

* * *

'Oh that was good! Who's the guy at the end? Is Mary good? Is that actually how he survived? Can we watch the next one?' Fitz exploded as soon the credits came up. His sudden movement jolting Jemma who had been resting her head on his shoulder.

'Patience young grasshopper.' Skye said as she slowly got out of her chair. 'We can watch episode two in the morning. But it's late and I want to get some rest. You should have come by earlier if you wanted to watch two episodes.'

'I had work.' Jemma reminded her roommate.

'Whatever, anyway I'm going to bed, see you in the morning.' And with that Skye had disappeared into her room with a wink.

'So…' Fitz murmured.

'My room?' Jemma asked, picking up on his nerves. Despite having slept over multiple times before, this was the first time as boyfriend and girlfriend and neither of them were quite sure how it was going to pan out.

Once in Jemma's room Fitz leaned in for a kiss, gently pushing Jemma up against the door. Eagerly, Jemma deepened the kiss, opening her mouth and sliding her tongue against his lips. He opened his mouth in response and let out a small groan. Jemma pushed against him, trying to move them to her bed. Narrowly avoiding a collision with her desk. She steered them towards her bed. The back of Fitz's legs met the edge of the bed and they both collapsed down onto it. Jemma removed her hands from where they had been cupping his face and started to undo his flannel shirt and work her desperate hands onto his chest.

Jemma lost herself in the kiss and in Fitz. All she wanted was him. She was fairly certain that there could have been an earthquake going on and she still wouldn't have broken away from him. Her roaming hands found the edge of his jeans and she played with the fabric of his boxers while trailing a line of kisses down his neck and chest. Fitz let out a soft moan as she moved back up to kiss his jawbone and lips. His pelvis rutted up instinctually and she grinded back into it. Without thinking she started to undo the button on his jeans, and pulled the fly down.

'Je-Jemma?' Fitz's hoarse voice broke the silence. She pulled back and was met with an anxious looking Fitz. For a moment she was puzzled by his interruption, before it all clicked into place. She'd gone too far. Got too carried away. Trying to hide the look of disappointment from her face she slid off of him and perched on the edge of the bed. Keeping track of what he was comfortable with and what he wasn't, whilst kissing him, was a difficult task. They'd worked out that basically anything with clothes on was fine, but anything more than that was a no.

Despite everything, a small part of her held out hope that maybe eventually he would feel comfortable with sex. She would wait for him to make that move however. She knew sometimes asexuals would sleep with their partners because they knew their other half enjoyed it. However, she had not broached the subject with Fitz and if/when he was ready she wanted him to make that step, the last thing she wanted was for him to feel pressured. He was still working out exactly where he stood and how he felt, so until he was surer she knew it was out of the question. Maybe one day… but until then there were other ways of satisfying her desires. A sexless relationship was difficult for her, but she was sure she could make it work for them. Fitz was more important.

'Sorry.' She murmured as Fitz manoeuvred himself to sit beside her. 'This is just harder than I thought.'

'I know… I'm sorry too.' He said as he wrapped an arm around her.

'I just got lost in the moment. I want this to work so badly. It's just, should it be this hard?' Jemma's frustration at herself seeped through her words. She had been forgetting a lot and she didn't understand why. It should have been at the front of her mind the whole time, but as soon as she kissed him it all seemed to leave her. What upset her most was that she was making Fitz uncomfortable, which was the last thing she ever wanted to do.

'Nothing worth having comes easy. That's what my mum always said.'

'You know that's like a famous quote right? I'm pretty sure Roosevelt said it. And Doctor Kelso from Scrubs.' Jemma said with a small chuckle.

'What? I swear that woman just plagiarised everything, didn't she?' Fitz said with a fond smile.

'To be fair his quote was longer, she just abbreviated it. But yeah, just a bit.' Jemma turned to face Fitz and he planted a soft kiss on her lips. 'I'll get there I promise. It's just taking longer than I thought it would.'

'It's ok, I'm still amazed that you agreed to this to be honest.'

'There are a lot of things I can live without, but you Leopold, are not one of them.'

'I don't know whether to be mad that you called me Leopold or kiss you because you're so sweet.' He said with a grin.

Jemma giggled and pulled him in for another kiss. 'Definitely the latter.' Jemma said as her lips grazed his. 'We'll work this out I promise, there are few things I've ever wanted as much as I want this to work.'

Fitz smiled softly, with a look of awe in his eyes. 'Really?'

'Really.' Jemma beamed back. Fitz was many things, but being high in self-esteem was not one of them. 'I think you're amazing, of course I mean it. We need to work on improving your self-confidence.' Jemma said softly whilst playing with his fingers.

'Well if anyone can help me there it will be you, but you're going to have to be patient. After so many years of shite it's kind of hard to not be filled with crippling self-loathing.' Fitz said in a hushed tone, looking down at his lap, no longer able to hold her gaze.

Jemma's face fell at his admission and she felt the need to wrap him up in a blanket and promise him everything would be fine. Her stomach filled with anxiety as she felt the urge to tell him she loved him, but nerves got the better of her and instead she went with something less game changing. 'Hey, look at me Fitz.' She waited for his eye contact before continuing. 'You know I'm here for you, to talk about anything, I can't take away what you've been through, but I still want to help you.'

Fitz sighed and let a small smile pull at his lips as he nodded his head. 'You're truly the best thing that ever happened to me.' Jemma smiled back at him and leaned in to kiss him again, determined to remain in control of herself this time.

'So are you.' She murmured as she took a breath and leaned her forehead against his. Fitz smiled and met her lips again, deepening the kiss without letting it grow too heated.

'Whilst I think about it, what do I need to wear to your mum's birthday party?' Asked as he broke the kiss off.

'Whilst you think about it?' Jemma exclaimed as she pulled back from him. 'Kissing me? Mum's birthday?' Jemma raised her eyebrows. And tried to demonstrate how different the two things were using her hands to represent them. 'Do I even want to know the correlation?' Jemma teased.

Fitz scowled. 'Just popped into my head. Anyway, answer my question.'

'A suit will be fine.'

'I only have the one, and I don't really feel like wearing it again after the funeral and all.' Fitz said timidly.

'We can go shopping and get one. Oh and you can get a waistcoat and look all dapper.' Fitz gave her a quizzical look. 'What? Waistcoats are sexy and that is a proven scientific fact.'

'Is it now?'

'Yes.' Jemma said as she stuck her tongue out.

'Glad to know my girlfriends so mature.' Fitz teased, earning himself a swat on the arm.

'Speaking of which, I told my parents today, when they called.'

'And?'

'And, they actually seemed ok with it. They said if you're an engineer then you might be smart enough for me. However they will be in full on scrutiny mode at the party, so... just a heads up.' Jemma said with a nervous grin.

'Great, as if it wasn't a scary enough prospect meeting all your family.'

'But, you're already in a good standing, so just be your adorable, charming self and you'll be fine.'

Fitz frowned and mumbled something under his breath. 'You realise you're the only person who thinks I'm those things. And I'm going to be in ultra-shy-and-uncomfortable mode. So although you make it sound easy, it won't be.'

'Skye and I will look after you, it'll be fine. Although maybe avoid my brother.'

'What will your brother do?'

'I don't really know, never brought a boy home, but he fancies himself the over protective older brother, so you can see how it might not go down so well. Also he's ummm kind of sexist, thanks to my mother. Neither of them are particularly pleased with my career choice.'

'Great… They sound just lovely…' Fitz sighed. Jemma rubbed his arm sympathetically, but could tell it did nothing to help quell his nerves.

The two continued to chat as they got ready for bed, causing a bit too much noise on their way back from brushing their teeth, meaning they earned a scolding from Skye. After apologising and promising to be quite, they curled up in Jemma's bed and continued to talk. Jemma snuggled into his chest as his arms wrapped around her and allowed herself to enjoy the feeling of peace and serenity as she drifted off to sleep.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, comments are always appreciated, they really make my day :)


	26. Day 164

Sorry it's been so long, health issues and exams are to blame, but at least the latter is no longer an issue now so updates should get back to being more frequent. Don't worry I haven't given up on this, there isn't that much more to go. I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

Day 164

'Skye, I swear to God if you have my cardigan I'm going to kill you! I should have left ten minutes ago!' Fitz heard Jemma yell through the door.

'I already told you, I haven't seen it. Maybe you left it at Fitz's?' Skye replied sounding slightly irritated.

'Are you sure it's not ended up in your wardrobe?'

'Yes! Now just wear the leather jacket, the hotels a shit hole anyway, no one will care!' Skye called out, clearly growing impatient with Jemma.

'Fine.' Jemma said and opened the fornt door. 'Fitz? How long have you been there?' The shock on her face evident.

'Couple of minutes, you didn't hear me knock so I decided just to wait. Anyway I'm here for Skye so I won't make you any later. Bye bye.'

'Bye. Love you.' Jemma said as she gave him a quick peck on the lips. Her eyes widened as she realised what she had said.

Fitz froze momentarily, he hadn't wanted the first time she said that to be such a casual affair, with Skye standing, mouth agape, not six feet from them. 'I love you too.' He said with sincerity. 'I'll see you later.' He said with a smile. Jemma visibly relaxed and kissed him again and then ran off down the corridor.

'Oh my God! I can't believe that just happened! And I got a picture and everything, this it so going in my scrapbook.' Skye said as she turned her phone around to show him the picture.

'I hate you.' Fitz scowled as he walked into the flat.

'My lil' love birds. Saying they love each other. In front of me. It's like an early Christmas present.' Skye murmured dreamily.

'That's good, should save me some money then.' Fitz smirked.

'"Like". "Like a Christmas present", not an actually present.' Skye teased.

'Whatever.' Fitz sat down on the futon and Skye jumped down next to him. She sat silently, grinning crazily at him. 'What? Would you stop that, it's creepy?'

'I'm sorry, it's just so exciting. I've been waiting so long for this to happen and now it's all fitting into place.' Skye said, her voice getting all high pitched.

'You know, sometimes I think you're more invested in this relationship than we are.' Fitz said with a laugh.

'Duh-doy! But seriously, this is a huge deal.'

'I know.' Fitz couldn't help but grin at her. 'I can't believe it, it's crazy. I never thought someone other than my mum could be so important to me. I just hate that it took me so long to figure it out, I would have loved for her to meet my mum. But I guess that wasn't meant to be.'

'You nervous to meet her parents next weekend?'

'Yup.' He answered popping the 'p'.

'Yeah, I don't blame you, they're nice enough, but I don't think anyone will be good enough in their eyes.'

'Gee, thanks.'

'I'm mean, they're so easy to please, the last boy she brought home was a druggie and they loved him so you'll be fine. They are so-' Fitz glared at her, nudging her arm to shut her up.

'Lies aren't helpful either.'

'Well what do you want me to say?'

Fitz did his best impression of Skye and said, 'Oh Fitz don't worry, they'll love you, you're great and her parents will respect Jemma's choice of boyfriend.'

'But you just told me not to lie?' Fitz rolled his eyes. 'Also I don't appreciate the impression.' She quipped with a scowl.

'Anywho, you ready to leave?' Fitz asked.

'Umm… well, had I not spent twenty minutes trying to help your girlfriend find her cardigan, then yeah, I would have been ready. But alas, that oh so demanding woman prevented me from getting ready.'

'Right, well hurry up, I'm starving.' Fitz complained, rubbing his stomach for added effect.

'You're always starving.' Skye called, as she hurried off into her room.

* * *

'So, how's everything?' Skye asked with a coy smile. She and Fitz were sat in the coffee shop, each digging into their lunch.

'Fine.' Fitz answered with a quizzical look.

'I mean with Jemma.' Skye added.

'Why? What's she said?' Fitz asked, suddenly in a panic.

'Nothing bad, I just want to hear what you have to say.' Skye answered quickly, trying to calm his sudden burst of worry.

'Oh, alright. Well it's going really well. I don't think I've ever been this happy, I thought things couldn't get better after I became friends with you two, but it somehow did. Which I feel bad about because I feel like I shouldn't be this happy so soon after mum's passing.'

'She'd be happy for you, you're getting on with your life and you've found love, that's what every mom wants. Or so I hear, I wouldn't actually know.' Skye joked.

Fitz let out a little puff of air at Skye's joke, clearly slightly uncomfortable with how easily she made fun of her family situation, or lack thereof. 'I guess. Has she told you about… ummm… our issue?'

'Of her getting too carried away?' Fitz nodded solemnly in conformation. 'Yeah. She feels awful about it you know.'

'Yeah I do, and I feel equally bad, I just don't want her to settle, I don't want to be bad for her. She keeps saying she'll get used to it, but she's not. And I just worry she's going to realise that this isn't going to work long-term.' Her heart broke for him, he was so worried about her leaving him and Jemma was worried about the same thing. Both of them worried that they weren't good for the other. Of course Skye knew this was complete and utter nonsense, but unfortunately neither of them seemed to see it.

She took his hand in hers and spoke to him with sincerity. 'Fitz, you guys are meant to be, you will find a way to make it work. Yeah it's hard, for both of you, but you'll find a way for you both to figure his out.'

'I really hope you're right.' Fitz said, dropping their eye contact in favour of his bacon roll.

'I'm always right, it's one of my superpowers.' She retorted with a smirk.

The conversation continued effortlessly and Skye was reminded of how she needed to make sure the two of them still hung out on their own sometimes. It was nice just to be able to catch up with him without Jemma there to distract him. As much as she loved them being together she had learnt that she could only hand so much time with them both. However, on a one to one basis they never got too cutesy or annoying.

Once they finished their lunch they ordered a tea and coffee to go and went for a walk round the park. 'So how many of you are left in the house?' Skye asked, knowing that at least Mack had gone home for summer.

'Just me, Grant and Jaspar. Neither of which I'm fond of.' Fitz replied with pursed lips.

'Oh I bet that's a ball of laughs then. No wonder you're round ours all the time.'

'Yeah, it sucks, but they're both leaving this weekend and then it'll just be me, which will be strange. But better than just us three.'

'Well you're welcome at ours any time, and I'm sure Jemma will enjoy the company whilst I'm in America with Trip and his family.'

'That is if she stays. She's still not sure.'

'She'll stay at home with them the week after her mom's party and then remember why she hated living with her parents and then she'll spend the rest of the summer with you. Trust me, you'll have a boring week were you're one of the few students left in the area and then you'll have three weeks straight just with Jemma and then I'll be back. Which will of course be the highlight.'

'You being away or your return?' Fitz teased.

'Oh shut it.' Skye laughed as she pushed into him, almost sending him to the floor. 'You need to improve your coordination.'

'Or, you could just stop knocking into me?'

'Where's the fun in that?'

'I could have spilt my tea.' Fitz moaned.

Skye shrugged. 'Woops.'

The two continued round the park finishing their drinks and chatting. The sun shone bright and they took the opportunity to sunbath by the lake in the middle of the park. As Fitz lay on his back with his arms supporting his head and his eyes closed, Skye texted Jemma, letting her know where they were so she could join them at the end of her shift. They dosed in a comfortable silence, enjoying the sounds of children playing and dogs barking around them.

Skye opened her eyes, alarmed by the sudden disappearance of the sun. Jemma was stood over her, looking rather frazzled. 'Bad shift?'

'Nightmare.' She answered as she sat down. 'He asleep?' Jemma asked, motioning to Fitz.

'Nah, he just hates you.' Skye answered deadpan, as Fitz scrunched his nose in his sleep. 'I think he drifted off about ten minutes ago.' She sat up and leaned over to blow puffs of air on his face.

He mumbled a couple of times before opening his eyes and glaring up at Skye. 'Morning sleeping beauty.' At the sound of Jemma's voice he sat up and grinned.

'Hey. You found your cardigan then?' Fitz asked upon noticing her change of jacket.

'Yeah, it was at work, sorry about that Skye.' Jemma answered sheepishly.

'I told you I didn't have it, but nooooo, you didn't believe me.' Skye said irate, only half serious.

'My bad.' Jemma apologised. 'Wanna go grab some ice creams?'

'Of course.' Fitz shot up and then proceeded to plop back down with a groan. 'Head rush…'

'If you're paying?' Skye teased as she stood up, pulling Fitz with her. Jemma gave her a mock glare before cracking a smile with Skye. 'But seriously, I'm outta cash.'

'Don't worry, I'll cover you, I owe you some money anyway.' Fitz offered as he took Jemma's hand in his own. Despite the accidental "I love you" incident earlier that morning neither seemed to be finding it awkward, which pleased Skye, the last thing she wanted was for things to be awkward again.

With the sun starting to lower in the sky and their shadows growing longer, the three of them wondered off in the direction of the shops, in search of ice-cream. The rest of the afternoon was spent meandering around town as they chatted and laughed, feeling more relaxed than they had all year.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, your reviews are always appreciated :)


	27. Day 173

Here's the next chapter, lets just pretend it's still the weekend and i'm keeping to my schedule. Hope you enjoy it :)

* * *

Day 173

'This is going to be bad, I can just feel it.' Fitz mumbled as Jemma pressed the doorbell to her parents' house.

'Ugh Fitz, please calm down.' Jemma said as she reached for his hand, which did nothing to quell his nerves.

The door swung open and a middle age woman, presumably Jemma's mother, stood behind it. 'Jemma!'

'Happy birthday mum!' Jemma said enthusiastically as she passed her perfectly wrapped gift to her mother.

'Darling you look beautiful. And Skye, gorgeous as ever.' She said through a tight lipped smile, clearly not as please to meet Skye as she was trying to seem. 'And this must be Leo, nice to meet you, I've heard so much about you. I'm Beverly.' She gave him a piecing look as she extended a hand out to Fitz which he shook as firmly as he could, not wanting to be judged poorly by it. 'Please come in and make yourselves comfortable. Let me take your bags.' Fitz and Skye handed her their overnight bags while Jemma had a suitcase for the week.

As they entered the house Jemma reached out to re-join their hands, giving him a reassuring squeeze. The house was huge; it was more of a manor than a house, it made the bungalow he had shared with his mother look pathetic. The hall was beautifully decorated, with grand paintings on the wall and an expensive looking rug running the full length of the corridor. Jemma led them to the living room, which was equally stunning. A chandelier hung in the middle of the room and an eloquent bar ran along the side of the wall, overlooking the rest of the room. Forty or so people were already gathered in the room, some sitting, some gathered round the grand piano where someone was playing and others getting drinks from the bar.

'Jemma!' A middle aged man, presumably Jemma's father, came across the room from the bar. 'How are you? Was your journey good?' Jemma kissed his cheek in greeting before answering him and introducing him to Fitz.

The evening continued with one awkward introduction after another, in an attempt to escape Fitz had excused himself to the garden, claiming he needed some fresh air, in reality he just needed a few minutes alone to collect himself. The sheer volume of people in the house had been overwhelming from the start, but as more had arrived and pressed him with questions his nerves had rocketed.

'Leopold?' Jemma's brother, Michael, approached from behind. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his blazer and offered one to Fitz.

'No thank you.' Fitz gave a small shake of his head as he took in a deep breath.

'Fair enough.' Michael responded as he lit his cigarette and placed it between his lips, taking a long drag. 'So, you and Jemma, eh?' Michael mused. Fitz shifted uncomfortably and nodded his head, hoping to get this exchange over as soon as possible. 'Normally she goes for the big guys, you know? Not little dweebs like you. You're the one with the sick mum right?'

'Ummm… yeah, uhh… she passed away…' Fitz mumbled nervously.

'Oh, my apologies. I didn't know.' Something about the way he said it made Fitz suspect he had indeed known, and had wanted to make him squirm. How Jemma had turned out so differently from her family was a mystery not even he could figure out. 'Don't be so nervous, you're making me tense just looking at you.'

'Yes, sorry.'

'I don't want to go all classic big brother on you, but I do have to remind you that I'm like a foot taller than you and have actually seen the inside of a gym.' He teased with a slight snarl. Fitz swallowed nervously, but Michael continued before he had a chance to respond. 'So you're engineering, right?' Fitz gave a small nod. 'Into the books like little Jemma. Personally never understood her obsession, dissecting and all that, most unpleasant, especially for a girl.' Fitz held back a growl, desperately trying to school his features. 'Not natural is it chap? For a girl to be slicing and dicing. Just makes me ill thinking about it. But engineering, that-'

'Oh there you are Fitz! I've been looking all over for you.' Skye, his saviour, came jogging out to meet them. 'I need your help inside.'

'Yes of course.' Fitz replied quickly and gave Michael a curt nod. Once inside Fitz pulled Skye into a tight embrace. 'Can we go now? This is awful.'

'Her brother is quite the gent isn't he?' Skye joked, voice dripping with sarcasm. 'Sorry I didn't come sooner, but I was stuck with Mr Simmons. Let's go get some more to drink, and maybe we can sneak off, say you're ill or something, and I'm looking after you.'

'What about Jemma?'

'It's her mom's birthday party, she's got to be here, we don't.'

'Still harsh to leave her on her own…' Fitz grumbled. Skye gave him a warm smile and shook her head.

'You're too nice, you know that?' Skye told him as they walked up to the bar.

From across the room Fitz could see Jemma desperately trying to leave a conversation with two of her relatives. Fitz gave a quick nod in her direction to Skye before going off to help her, Champaign would have to wait for now.

'Hi, can I borrow Jemma for a bit?' He asked as he came up behind her, weaving his fingers between hers.

'Of course.' The elderly gentlemen said with a coy smile and a look in his eye that made Fitz deeply uncomfortable. Fitz led her out to the hallway, where Jemma pointed him to the study.

'Your brother sure is interesting…' Fitz mumbled as Jemma closed the door. 'Had a stimulating conversation with him outside.' Fitz informed her deadpan.

'What did he say?' Jemma asked, her irritation at her brother clear.

'He just wasn't overly welcoming, is all.' Fitz said as he closed the distance and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her head.

'I'm sorry. I know you don't want to be here.'

'S'kay. You're here, so it's not all bad.' He said with a smile. He lightly pressed a kiss atop her head, to comfort himself as well as her. Jemma pulled away just enough to look at his face, with her beautiful brown eyes. Gently she placed a chaste kiss on his lips, as she pulled away he leaned in, catching her lips in a deeper kiss. His hands roamed her back and he pulled her in closer to him, not wanting any unnecessary distance between them.

* * *

Skye pressed her lips together. How she had managed to end up in a conversation with Beverly was a mystery to her, but here she was, stuck with her and some elderly family member who seemed oblivious to the tension.

'So, you actually tell the computers what to do? That's amazing! Like Alan Turing.' The elderly woman, whose name had been forgotten after about five seconds, was finding computer science far more interesting than Jemma's mother.

'But entirely unnatural, and more of a man's job wouldn't you say?' Beverly cut in before Skye could correct the other woman's Turing comparison.

'Well, I suppose so, but then again, my new GP is a woman. And at first I was not at all pleased, who'd have heard of such a thing. But, I'll tell you what, and it was a real shock. She's actually better than my old doctor!' The elderly woman exclaimed.

It took Skye all her self-control not to roll her eyes or go off on a rant. It was bad enough she had to deal with the misogyny of her male class mates, let alone these two women.

Beverly Simmons let out a strange noise, somewhere between a growl and a snort. 'Well don't go telling Jemma your silly stories.'

'Why can't you just be proud of her?' Skye asked before really registering what she'd said. Beverly looked appalled and Skye decided that she'd already done some damage so she might as well see it through. 'She has one parent pushing her to the brink with his ridiculously high standards and the other pushing her down and wanting her to fail at every turn. What kind of parents do that? You both cause her so much stress.' Skye said angrily, whilst trying to keep her voice down, not wanting to cause a scene.

Beverly looked like she was about to burst an artery. 'I will not be spoken to like that, especially not in my own home! You will apologise at once.' Skye couldn't help but notice that the elderly woman seemed to be enjoying the argument that was unfolding in front of her.

Skye was about to respond when Robert appeared at his wife's side. 'Have you seen Jemma, dear?' Beverly's face shifted instantly, putting on a façade of serenity.

'No sorry, she was talking with your cousin the last time I checked.' Beverly told him. Robert quickly went to ask his cousin and reappeared after an agonising minute of silence between the three women.

'Leopold took her somewhere apparently.' Robert said, not looking overly pleased.

And that was how Skye ended up standing between the Simmons' as they opened the door to the study to find Fitz and Jemma in the middle of a very passionate make out session.

'Jemma Rosemary Simmons!' Robert Simmons boomed after a second or two of stunned silence.

'Oh my God. Oh my God. Dad I'm so sorry. I… you weren't… oh God…' A very flushed Jemma rambled.

Fitz shifted awkwardly beside her looking even more flustered and embarrassed. He awkwardly lowered his hands to try and hid his body's natural response to the intense kisses that had been in full flow seconds earlier. Skye tried so give him a reassuring smile, but there wasn't much she could do to help them.

Jemma's mother seemed too shocked to move, let alone say anything. They were a conservative family and although it was obviously not unexpected, it was not appropriate for them, and half their guests, to see it.

Over the next hour the Simmons' tried their best to calm things down, which resulted in the three of them being banished upstairs. 'So, next time can you guys just like make out on the front door, so we can get kicked out before it starts?' Skye joked.

'I don't think you understand how much trouble we are going to be in.' Jemma scolded.

'I don't understand why such a big deal is being made of this. We were fully clothed and everything…' Fitz grumbled, upset that he'd managed to make such a bad impression.

'It's not the done thing. You just don't show any PDA at these kinds of events…'

'Hence the closed door?' Fitz mumbled.

'It's not that simple Fitz!' Jemma said raising her voice slightly.

'Sorry…'

Skye shifted awkwardly, not sure how to resolve the situation. 'Why don't we just put on a movie or something? I think I have Sherlock on my laptop?'

Jemma nodded and Fitz just shrugged, looking rather like a lost puppy. Their first spat was a difficult one, no one had done anything wrong really, just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Skye remained hopeful that it would all blow over as she set up her laptop for what would hopefully be a relaxing hour and a half.

* * *

Thank you for reading, your comments are always appreciated :)


	28. Day 174

Heya, I'm going on holiday so this will be the last chapter for a week or so, sorry. Hope you enjoy this one and the direction I took :)

Day 174

Despite each having been given a separate room to stay in, Fitz ended up spending the night with Jemma. Skye had turned in around midnight, leaving the two of them alone to resolve their issues.

They had got ready for bed in relative silence, they hadn't had an argument exactly, but Jemma knew Fitz didn't understand how much trouble she was going to be in in the morning.

'Fitz?' Jemma looked up from her lap, and patted the side of the bed so as to prompt him to sit next to her. 'I'm sorry I got a little, umm… angry earlier. I just… I'm going to be in trouble and I'm worried that you'll get the blame and I just… This is a side of me my parents haven't really seen before. And I'm kind of worried as to what the morning will hold.' She said as Fitz came and sat next to her.

'I get that. It's just… this is a world that I don't understand. But if I can help, I will.'

Jemma smiled at his concern. 'It will probably be easier when you and Skye are gone to be honest. So I would just avoid them tomorrow as much as possible and stay quiet and polite.'

'I can do that. And technically it's today.' Fitz teased as he pointed to the clock that showed that it was 00:13. Jemma rolled her eyes at him before leaning in to kiss him. 'We're ok then?' He asked as she pulled away.

'Yeah, but there is something else I think we need to talk about.' Jemma said hesitantly. This conversation had been put off for long enough.

'Oh-kay…?'

'I just want to pose a suggestion, and I don't want you to feel pressured or anything. I just need to get this across and I need you to listen.' She took in a deep breath which did nothing to calm her. 'I was hoping that I would be able to do this, this no sex relationship, and I am really trying, but it's just not working.' Fitz stared at her, ashen-faced. 'And I want you to understand that I love you and that is not the part that I am doubting.' He nodded slowly, and swallowed hard. 'But I've been trying to ummm… well satisfy myself, but it's not the same and it doesn't stop me growing frustrated when kissing you. And this is not something I wanted to suggest. I wanted it to come from you if you were ever ready, but I've been doing some thinking and I just can't wait, I need a solution and this is my best one.

'So here goes… Would you be willing to try sex again? This time with me, in a loving environment and obviously on your terms. If you don't enjoy it then ok, we will look down another avenue. I don't know what that would be, but we will work it out together. I just think that it might be different with me and maybe we could have some sort of compromise, like if you don't mind it then we just sleep together when I'm very sexually frustrated and obviously never when you don't want to. Is that something you could consider?' Jemma chewed her lip and waited for Fitz to absorb all that he had just heard.

He ran his hand through his hair and took a deep breath. 'I didn't realise you were having such a problem with it.' He mumbled, trying to hide the crack in his voice. 'I want you to know that trying this once doesn't guarantee that I'll be able to agree to sex on a regular basis. I want to make you happy, and if trying this will do that, then I will try.

'I just… I'm still working myself out, I know I don't have any sort of sex drive and so I can't really understand what your frustration feels like. I know that I didn't enjoy sleeping with… Skye… But maybe it will be different with you and if I don't hate it and I don't feel uncomfortable then I guess we can work something out.' Fitz tried to maintain eye contact as he spoke, but it was evident that he was struggling. His hands had shifted about uncomfortably until he awkwardly sat on them to still them. He kept his voice low in an attempt to maintain control of it.

'So you're willing to give this a go when we're back in Southampton? There's no immediate rush, I can wait a bit longer. ' Jemma asked, not having really thought his agreement possible.

'Yeah, I think so.' He said with a soft smile.

She leaned over to him and held his face between her hands and gently kissed him. He pushed her back onto the bed and kissed her harder. 'Hopefully this time my parents won't interrupt.' She joked against his lips, glad that the tension of their conversation had dissipated when their lips met.

* * *

The morning had been awkward to say the least. The six had shared a quiet breakfast, after which Jemma had been called into her father's office to have a private word with her parents. Skye and Fitz were now sat in the living room, playing chess. Skye, as it turned out, was a formidable opponent, despite not remembering what piece moved where. Fitz was constantly having to remind her what moves were and weren't allowed.

'Ok this is ridiculous, no way can you be this good when you haven't played in years.' Fitz moaned.

Skye gave him a smug smile before knocking out his castle. 'It's kinda like coding, just got to work out the algorithm… kinda... I dunno, my brain just likes solving problems.'

'So does mine, and I'm good at this, but you're thrashing me!' Fitz groaned, he was not at all pleased about being shown up by a novice. Skye grinned a toothy grin as she watched Fitz contemplate his next move.

Fitz heard footsteps coming up behind him and turned to see Jemma, red eyed, clearly she had been crying. He was up and out of his seat in a flash and enveloped her in a hug. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her head on his shoulder.

'So games over?' Skye asked. Fitz turned and gave her a glare to signal her leave.

'Garden?' Fitz asked quietly. Jemma nodded and reluctantly let him go. Fitz intertwined their fingers as he led her outside and found a bench for them to sit on. 'Wanna talk about it or…?' Jemma nodded softly and Fitz waited until she was ready to talk. He ran his thumb along the back of her hand, trying to soothe her.

'They are mad and disappointed and think I'm an embarrassment. Dad said he expected better things from me and Mum said that I should have more self-control. She thought it was obvious that you would take any opportunity you got and that I, as the woman, should have told you no. I'm just so fed up with everything being about their reputation. Mum doesn't want me to be a scientist because of her reputation, dad wants me to be the best because of his reputation. They don't want me to do things for me. And I'm just tired of it.' Jemma revealed slowly. The pain and anger clear from her tone.

'I'm sorry…' He pulled her into a hug and stroked the back of her head. 'I'm sorry I got you in trouble. And I'm sorry your parents are kinda arseholes. And I just want you to know that I don't want you to do anything for my reputation or yours, I just want you to do them because you want to and it will make you happy.' Fitz told her softly.

'I know, and I really appreciate it, but I still wish my own parents could be supportive…' Jemma murmured as she clung to him.

'I'm sorry, I can't change that.' Fitz told her as he swept away her hair from her face. 'But I will endeavour to make you happy in every way I can.' She lent her head on his shoulder and he placed as soft kiss on her forehead.

'Thank you.'

They stayed put, enjoying each other's presence, no words needed to convey how they felt. As the sun appeared from behind a cloud, Jemma pulled Fitz up to wander round the garden. The Simmons' house had fifteen acers of land surrounding it, most of which were beautiful gardens, along with a stable and paddock. Plenty of space to keep to themselves hidden.

'Guys!' Skye's wail came from the back door just as they were about to leave the immediate back garden into one of the more secluded ones. 'Just ditch me why not! I cannot deal with your brother for a minute longer!' Skye shouted as she launched herself across the lawn to them.

'Sorry about that.' Jemma said, only half sincere. She was clearly apologetic for leaving Skye with her brother but also annoyed that their alone time had been interrupted. Which he could most definitely second.

'You feelin' better?' Skye asked in a more serious tone. Jemma gave a slight nod and a small smile in response.

The trio spent the rest of the morning wandering around the gardens and enjoying the sunshine. Jemma showed them her favourite spots and told them some stories from her childhood that made them all laugh. Although Fitz suspected that the ones she shared were the only ones she had. From the few hours he had spent with her family, he got the distinct impression that they had not been the nicest people to grow up with.

Unfortunately, lunch came all too quickly and their presence was required for a family meal. Fitz felt a distinct lack of appetite, something that he was not at all used to. After a very awkward and tight lipped lunch, the three escaped back to the grounds and allowed themselves to relax and forget the previous evening. Something they were all in desperate need of.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it :)


	29. Day 178

Hey, I'm back, just one more chapter to go after this one, I'll try post it either next weekend or the weekend after. But I'm not the best at sticking to my plans so we shall see. I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

Day 178

Fitz sat alone, bored out of his mind, in his room on the sunny Thursday afternoon. Skye had left for America on Monday and Jemma was staying at her parents until Saturday. The house was silent, except for his leg joggling up and down restlessly. Despite his relief that Jasper and Grant had finally gone home to their families, there was something very unnerving about the house when it was so empty. Usually someone was always awake, meaning that even at the dead of night you could hear the background noise of someone playing a video game or watching a TV show.

Less than a year ago he'd have been thrilled to be alone, but after having his life changed by Jemma and Skye there was no going back. Sure he still enjoyed time alone, but this was too much. It was clear that this was a case of not knowing what you have until you lose it. Thankfully this wasn't permanent. The idea of losing Skye and Jemma permanently was simply unacceptable.

His phone buzzed and Fitz jumped to answer it. 'Jemma?'

'Hiya.'

'How're things with your parents?' Fitz inquired tentatively.

'Still a little awkward… but things are blowing over.' Jemma answered.

'Sorry about that…' Fitz mumbled guiltily.

'Pretty sure I started it.' Jemma chuckled.

Fitz dismissed her joke, still upset about causing trouble. 'Still, I didn't want to make things difficult.'

'It was worth it.' Jemma said softly. Fitz grinned, momentarily forgetting to respond.

'Right, well yes, it was rather good.'

'Was indeed.' Jemma agreed. 'So, how bored are you all on your lonesome?'

'So bored, so very, very, very, very bored. Like I forget why I used to like being alone so much.'

'So does that mean you miss me?' Jemma teased.

'Oh well now I wouldn't go that far. I mean you're alright, but I'm not sure I'd go as far to say I miss you.' Fitz replied deadpan as he lay back down on his bed to get more comfortable. Jemma let out a little chuckle. 'Of course I miss you Jem, I don't even know what to do with myself, no you, no Mack, no Skye, no School, no work. Like the Student Union is closed and Mack's not here so there are no cars to work on. I'm going nuts. Did I mention no you? That's the worst of it.' Fitz moaned. For a self-confessed introvert, he sure was missing being around people, well three people specifically. 'Like I'm going for long walks around the park and town just to get out and be around people. That's how bad it's got. I'm going out of my way to be around strangers!'

'Who'd have thought you'd be so needy.' Jemma joked. 'But it is only a two more days of missing each other, I'll be back Saturday evening. And then we can make the most of not having Skye around.'

Fitz grumbled. 'But it's only Thursday.'

'Well you could come back up and stay with me here if you'd rather?'

'You know what? Saturday sounds great.' Fitz perked up. The idea of spending more time with her family after being caught making out with Jemma was far worse than spending a couple more days without seeing her. In fact, most things would be better than staying in the same house as her family after the disaster that was their first introduction.

'I thought so.' Jemma laughed.

'So whatcha been up to?'

'Gala's and dinners and fun stuff like that. I'm back to being their prize gem. It's like they- Hey, what are you laughing at?'

'You said you're their gem, get it? Jem-ma is a gem.' Fitz chuckled.

'Ha ha ha ha.' Jemma said dryly. 'Soooo funny…'

'Oh come on?' Fitz rolled his eyes. 'It was funny.'

'Uh huh. Sure.'

He exhaled for effect. 'You clearly have no appreciation for the art of puns.'

'The art?' Jemma questioned sceptically.

With a deep breath he launched into his case to persuade her that puns are indeed an art. He found himself silently thanking Skye for getting him to watch Suits, as he went full lawyer on her. He could hear Jemma chuckling at his idiocy over the phone, but continued on with his defence, complete with passionate arm waving.

He concluded his speech and waited for Jemma's response. 'Anyway so as I was saying, I was at a party with my parents-' Fitz rolled his eyes and sighed before accepting that she wouldn't be swayed.

The conversation rolled on until a reluctant Jemma had to leave for afternoon tea, which in turn reminded Fitz that he ought to do something about feeding himself. Of course he didn't mention that to Jemma, no need to make her worry.

Slowly getting to his feet he headed to the kitchen to prepare a late lunch. His appetite still came and went, right now it was pretty non-existent, which a year ago he'd never have believed possible. Jemma had said it was a perfectly natural response, but had instructed him to make sure he always had three meals a day. Which, aside from the first couple of weeks after his mother's death, he had stuck to.

Just as he got to the fridge his phone buzzed again. Hoping it was Jemma he quickly read the caller ID. _Estate agent's… great..._ Reluctantly he answered it, not wanting whatever they had to say to pull him out of his happy little bubble. The gist of it was that there had been an offer, but it was substantially under the asking price. He simply had to decide whether he wanted to accept it or not. Their advice was obviously to decline; it had only been a couple of months since he had put it up for sale. Part of him wanted to just be rid of stress, but the other part of him wanted to keep it for as long as possible, it was the house he had grown up in after all.

He remembered sitting at the kitchen table tinkering with the radio. Whilst playing with his lightsabre it had fallen on the floor and had broken. At six years old it was beyond his ability to repair, but that didn't stop him trying. His mother had come in from gardening to find him surrounded by the contents of the toolbox, desperately trying to repair the damage. However, with a trip to town they had been able to buy the necessary components to fix it. From that point on tinkering was no longer just an escape from boredom, but a hobby in its own right.

Another key memory was of course coming home from school to find his mother sobbing. It had been the day of her diagnosis, the day that a dark cloud took over the household once again.

That was a decision for when Jemma got back, and he had told them as much. He would have an answer for them by Monday. He hung up as soon as he could and got back to making his meal. Quite which meal it was was debatable, it being 4:15. In the end he decided it did still count as lunch and he would just have a late dinner. He switched on the TV to escape the silence and his ongoing dilemma about his house and tried to enjoy his sandwich. _Only two more days till Jemma gets back…_

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)


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